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FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 


FRANCE 
AND  THE  FRENCH 


BY 

CHARLES  DAWBARN 


WITH   SIXTEEN   ILLUSTEATIONS 


NEW  YORK 
THE  MAGMILLAN  COMPANY 

1911 


JJ 


.D 


TO 

MY    FATHER 

THIS   BOOK   IS 
AFFECTIONATELY   INSCRIBED 


228615 


PREFATORY   NOTE 

THIS  has  no  pretension  to  be  a  monumental  work, 
dull  and  didactic,  laying  down  the  law  and  instruct- 
ing the  French  in  the  art  of  living.  It  is  an  attempt  to 
present  a  moving  picture  of  this  intellectual  and  brilliant 
people,  a  picture  founded  upon  personal  observation  and 
inspired  by  strong  sympathies.  We  have  had  books  in 
quantity  of  a  statistical  sort:  minute  descriptions  of 
French  institutions,  and  an  analysis  of  their  differences 
from  the  English.  We  have  had,  also,  books  that  deal 
frivolously  with  the  French,  as  with  a  people  who  are 
infantile  and  have  no  right  to  the  name  of  serious  men 
and  women.  Such  books  are  legion,  too.  If  they  trans- 
late French,  it  is  literally  done ;  and  we  are  asked  to 
laugh,  not  at  the  crudities  of  the  performing  clown,  but  at 
the  folly  of  his  subjects  of  ridicule.  The  French  are  not 
a  frivolous  people — I  hope  I  show  it  in  this  book  ;  I  hope, 
also,  that  I  demonstrate  some  of  their  other  qualities,  too 
often  disregarded  by  their  portraitists  and  historians. 
The  personal  view  is  always  presented,  but,  in  certain  of 
the  more  serious  sections  of  the  book,  I  explain,  in  detail. 


viii  FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

organisation  and  conception,  as  in  the  chapter  on  edu- 
cation. 

It  remains  for  me  to  thank  my  kind  friends,  French 
and  English,  who  have  helped  me  in  the  work  with 
suggestion  or  in  other  ways.  First  and  foremost,  my  thanks 
are  due  to  Mr.  Herbert  de  Beer,  whose  aid  has  been  in- 
valuable both  in  discerning  criticism  and  in  the  careful 
reading  of  MS.  Also  for  kind  advice  I  would  thank 
G.  L.  H.,  Mrs.  L.  Macdonald,  M.  Buisson,  etc.  etc. 


V 


CONTENTS 


The  Modern  Development  of  France 

A  Study  in  Comparative  Moralities 

Tendencies  in  Literature  and  Art 

New  Social  Influences  . 

Some  Further  Social  Aspects 

The  Role  of  Political  Parties. 

The  Church  and  Clericalism  . 

Paris  and  Provincial  Society  . 

Paris  To-day  and  Yesterday    . 

A  Political  Picture 

France  and  Her  Foreign  Relations 

The  Romance  of  Colonial  Empire 

French  History  in  Gothic 

The  French  Woman  and  the  Vote 

The  Stage  and  its  Problems  . 

The  Press  and  Public  Opinion 

French  Education 

The  French  Judicial  System   . 

Discontent  and  its  Causes 


PAGE 
I 

25 

54 
72 
81 

91 
109 

127 

141 

155 
168 

187 
208 
225 
238 
251 
268 
286 
304 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Thk  Quai  (^ahds  ▲uGUsmfs,  showihg  Tower  of  Notre  Damb. 

Fnm  tke  watcr-cokar  fay  J.  F.  RalEiaii     .  Frmui^au 

»P.YiBMaB| 

FACmC  PAGB 

IK  A  Latin  Quarter  STrmio  54 


COIir  Di'RXTRiMS  GcADCHK.    IimRPKIXATIOIC  DaT  IK  THK  CHAMBER 

cr  Dkpvtusl    Fraa  Ak  dnwing  by  A.  Eloy-Vincent  .    92 


Old  Hoosis,  Soobs  ...    132 


Tbb  IIbr-:  a  Frkkct  Stac-humtuw  Sckhk  nc  the  Forest 

or  CamrAeasm,    Vack  Iniled  fay  the  Maiqds  de  I'Aigie  .     136 


Cascades  db  i.'ofiKD  Ketrovch  .  .       .    1S8 


Palms  at  Bkn-OoHiF,  Aubmmia   .  ...    200 

■an) 


JOAV  or  Arc  at  the  Croitkimg  or  Charles  Vn  at  Rheims. 

FniB  tte  fascD  fay  Leaepvca  m  die  Fuith^oB  .        .    3o6 

CPfcMl  WlWlIlM  «gH» 


IJ5T  OF  nXCSimATKHIS 


fMMwms  warn,  -not   *"Fj 
rmat  Timmt  Suami.  or  Tmmb 


Mat  Dat,  Rjms  ok  ul 


FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

CHAPTER   I 
THE    MODERN    DEVELOPMENT    OF    FRANCE 

TEN  years'  continued  residence  in  a  country  may 
explain  even  if  it  does  not  condone  a  book  on 
the  subject.  A  decade  is  all  too  short,  but  it  has 
this  advantage,  that  one  has  not  lost  the  outsider's  point 
of  view  or  become  insensible  to  peculiarities.  I  have  had 
the  privilege  of  mixing  with  all  classes  of  French  people 
by  reason  of  my  professional  occupations,  which  have 
taken  me  everywhere  and  given  me  the  entree  to  the  most 
interesting  as  well  as  the  most  varied  society.  In  the 
course  of  a  decade,  I  have  come  to  regard  the  French  with 
much  sympathy,  and,  I  hope,  with  insight.  Such  errors 
as  I  have  committed  should  not  be  set  down  to  dis- 
inclination to  credit  them  with  the  many  virtues  they 
possess.  But  their  very  brilliance  and  quick-silvery 
character  make  them  difficult  to  photograph.  There  are 
shades  in  their  individuality  which  elude  the  ruder  in- 
tellect of  the  Anglo-Saxon — fine  points  in  the  mental 
make-up  which  do  not  appeal ;  ways  of  thought  and  an 
attitude  towards  life  which  are  sometimes  inexplicable. 
But  the  foundation  of  intent  remains,  that  intent  to  make 
the  most  of  the  present  world,  to  catch  the  last  ray  of  the 
sun,  to  utilize  every  moment  as  an  opportunity  for  life 
I 


2  '         FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

and,  perhaps,  for  love,  for  the  two  words  are  almost  inter- 
changeable in  this  fascinating  country,  where  intellectual 
existence  presents  the  variety  of  the  kaleidoscope. 

No  comprehension  of  the  present  French  people  is 
possible  without  due  appreciation  of  the  causes  which 
have  gone  to  the  building  up  of  the  national  character  and 
the  formation  of  the  national  institutions.  Modern  French 
history  seems  to  begin  at  the  great  Revolution.  It  was 
the  foundation  of  liberties  ;  it  represented  the  terrible 
"  cri  du  coeur "  of  a  people  struggling  to  be  free,  roused 
into  fierce  hatred  of  the  aristocracy.  And  yet,  much  that 
is  wonderful  and  beautiful  in  France  is  thrown  back  to 
the  splendid  days  of  the  Roi  Soleil  and  his  patronage  of 
arts  and  letters.  Before  that,  France  was  obscure  and 
tangled  in  her  destinies,  slowly  emerging  from  the  Middle 
Ages,  bearing  no  worthy  part  with  England  in  her  steady 
progress  towards  enlightenment  and  personal  liberty.  But 
the  Sun  King  dowered  France  with  noble  avenues,  with 
splendid  chateaux,  with  all  the  decorative  paraphernalia 
of  kingship.  The  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Louis  have 
left  glorious  architectural  vestiges  of  their  presence  in  the 
radiant  avenues  of  Paris  and  in  the  monuments  of  the 
neighbourhood.  Yet  the  callousness  of  kings  was  re- 
sponsible for  weaning  a  loyal  people  from  their  loyalty. 
An  absolute  indifference  to  the  welfare  of  the  subject 
stands  revealed  in  the  famous  phrases :  "  L'Etat,  c'est 
moi,"  and  "  Apres  moi,  le  deluge."  The  French  Revolu- 
tion was  rendered  possible  by  Richelieu's  policy  of  abas- 
ing the  rich.  And,  after  the  Fronde — the  Civil  War  be- 
tween the  Court  party  and  the  Parliament,  during  the 
minority  of  Louis  XIV — the  chateaux  of  the  nobles  were 
destroyed,  thus  detaching  them  from  the  soil. 

Louis  XIV  accentuated  the  movement  by  summoning 
the  grand  seigneurs  to  Paris  as  his  entourage  at  Court. 


THE   MODERN   DEVELOPMENT   OF   FRANCE        3 

It  became  a  disgrace  and  tantamount  to  exile  for  a  lord  to 
remain  on  his  "terres."  Absentee  landlordism  further 
estranged  the  peasantry,  already  exasperated  iby  poverty 
and  the  exactions  of  the  "  fermiers  generaux."  The  people 
lived  in  the  utmost  misery  and  degradation,  whilst  the 
monarch  gave  freely  to  his  nobles  and  favourites  any  part 
of  the  national  riches  that  he  did  not  want  for  himself. 
And  a  Minister,  to  whom  the  observation  was  made  that 
"  the  people  must  live,"  replied  in  the  true  spirit  of  his 
Royal  Master,  "I  do  not  see  the  necessity."  Poverty, 
then,  and  the  indifference  of  their  rulers  brought  on  the 
great  cataclysm ;  nor,  of  course,  were  matters  helped  by 
the  notorious  incapacity  of  Louis  XVL  If  the  Fourteenth 
Louis  had  brilliant  notions  of  government,  notwithstand- 
ing his  defects,  the  looseness  of  the  Regent  prepared  the 
way  for  the  licentiousness  of  Louis  XV,  one  of  the 
greatest  egoists  who  ever  lived,  whose  thoughts  were 
centred  in  indulgence.  Of  the  city  of  Paris  it  was  said : 
"  Les  murs  murant  Paris  rendent  Paris  murmurant,"  the 
reason  being  that  the  walls  brought  in  the  Octroi  and 
increased  the  burdens  of  the  people.  Nor  must  we  accept 
the  easy  optimism  of  certain  historians,  who  protested 
that,  despite  appearances,  the  people  were  not  as  poor  as 
they  pretended. 

Though  the  Revolution  left,  as  a  rich  and  abiding 
legacy,  the  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man,  its  blood- 
thirsty character  appals.  Leaders  of  the  movement  con- 
templated with  equanimity  the  slaughter  of  4CXD,ooo 
people.  Imagine  such  a  thing  !  Imagine  the  wantonness 
of  it!  Imagine,  also,  the  effect  upon  the  human  charac- 
ter of  a  glut  of  blood  such  as  that  entailed  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  fine  flower  of  French  nobility !  Are  there  no 
traces  of  the  spirit  left?  Is  there  nothing  in  the  mental 
atmosphere    of    Paris  to    suggest    that   this    sanguinary 


4  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

period  in  the  national  history  has  not  been  utterly 
effaced?  On  the  contrary,  it  would  seem  to  have  a 
sinister  influence  upon  present-day  manifestations.  The 
Parisian  love  of  sensation  and  the  love  of  certain  ex- 
tremists, such  as  demagogues  and  revolutionaries,  to 
"^pater  la  bourgeoisie"  are  signs  of  this  spirit.  The 
May  Day  demonstrations  which  bring  about  such  vast 
assemblages  of  troops,  all  point  the  same  way :  that  there 
is  a  sullen  creature  waiting  to  spring  at  the  throat  of 
wealth  the  moment  it  no  longer  fears  the  policeman. 
When,  for  any  reason,  there  is  an  absence  of  protective 
measures,  this  dangerous  residuum  comes  to  the  surface. 
I  have  seen  it  many  times  revealed  in  strange  outbursts 
of  violence,  sudden  attacks  upon  property  and  persons : 
the  revolt  of  the  disinherited  against  the  possessors.  Part 
of  the  Apache  difficulty  is  attached  to  this  very  problem — 
to  this  curious  undercurrent  and  subterranean  sea  of  class- 
hatred,  of  jealousy,  of  a  desire  to  obtain  the  good  things 
of  the  world  without  the  sustained  struggle  of  the  labourer. 
Often  there  are  visions  of  this  cleavage  of  the  classes. 
In  Paris,  it  seems  strangely  conspicuous  by  reason  of 
proximities.  At  a  great  race-meeting,  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  you  have  a  gathering  of  the  masses  side-by- 
side  with  an  astonishing  array  of  elegance  and  plutocratic 
arrogance.  In  a  sumptuous  limousine,  the  woman  of 
fashion  speeds  her  way  to  the  course  and,  alighting,  be- 
comes an  object  of  envy,  doubtless,  to  the  vast  throng, 
which  remarks  her  costly  dress  and  sparkling  jewels. 

There  are  causes  that  breed  this  spirit  of  discontent  in 
the  town  itself.  Often  the  Baron  and  the  banker  and 
professional  man  occupy  the  lower  floors  of  the  house, 
whilst  upon  the  sixth  lives,  in  a  squalid  chamber,  the  little 
"  midinette "  or  humble  workman.  The  artisan  rubs 
shoulders  with  wealth  on  the  staircase,  and  is  it  not  likely 


THE   MODERN  DEVELOPMENT   OF   FRANCE       5 

that  such  propinquity  gives  especial  acuteness  to  any 
study  in  comparisons  ? 

It  has  often  been  said  that  the  fear  of  the  spectre  at  the 
feast,  the  thought  of  some  worn  and  hungry  face  looking 
in  at  the  window  of  the  restaurant  where  Pives  eats,  has 
been  the  cause  of  limiting  the  expenditure  of  the  rich  man 
upon  his  pleasures.  The  Bourgeois  is  a  timid  soul  in 
France,  and  is  perpetually  compelled  by  his  fears  to  pay 
backsheesh  to  the  Social  Revolution.  The  guillotine,  in 
the  days  of  the  Terror,  did  its  work  so  thoroughly  that 
little  remains  that  can  consistently  be  accounted  aristo- 
cratic. All  hatred  of  the  class  has  passed.  The  anarchist, 
led  to  execution  for  his  outrage  upon  established  society, 
does  not  cry  "  Death  to  the  Aristocrats,"  but  "Death  to  the 
Bourgeoisie."  The  Bourgeoisie  certainly  is  to  be  the  aim  of 
anarchistic  effort  in  the  future,  and,  if  once  thq  mob  gets 
out  of  hand,  middle-class  prosperity  will  be  the  first  victim. 
This  knowledge  colours  politics  in  France ;  elsewhere  in 
these  pages  I  enlarge  upon  the  theme,  and  endeavour  to 
show  that  legislation  is  engaged  in  discounting  revolution 
by  forestalling,  in  some  sort,  the  demands  of  the  people. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  past  deeds  of  blood  have  left  their 
mark  on  men  and  manners,  on  methods  of  thought,  on  the 
style  of  propaganda.  The  most  common  instrument  in 
furthering  policies  to-day  is  intimidation  ;  it  is  the  weapon 
of  the  "syndicats,"  or  trade  unions.  The  workmen  use  it 
against  their  "patrons,"  and  they  use  it  against  their 
fellows,  who  refuse  to  join  the  professional  corporations. 
No  more  sinister  sign  of  the  tyranny  of  trade  unionism 
could  be  found  than  the  outrages  perpetrated  by  the 
"  rouges  "  or  syndicated  workmen  upon  the  "  jaunes  "  or 
independent  workmen,  known,  in  the  jargon  of  the  shops 
and  factories,  as  the  "renards."  Evidently,  then,  under 
the  thin  veneer  of  civilization  is  brutality  and  a  thirst  for 


6  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

violent  experiment,  which  bodes  ill  for  the  security  of  the 
public  if  once  the  safeguards  are  relaxed.  A  somewhat 
hasty,  time-serving,  propitiating  legislation  must  result 
from  efforts  to  ward  off  the  evil  day.  One  wonders  how 
far  concession  can  go  before  the  bed-rock  is  reached,  when 
it  is  no  longer  possible  to  give  way  without  material  sacri- 
fices, and  without  the  evacuation  of  positions  hardly  won. 
M.  Paul  Bourget  in  his  striking  play,  "  La  Barricade," 
insists  on  the  principle  that  the  middle  classes  must  merit 
their  situation  in  the  world  by  their  superior  energy  and 
intelligence  ;  yet  to-day  they  bow  before  the  demagogue. 
If  the  walls  of  the  social  Jericho  fall  at  the  first  blast  of  the 
trumpet,  then,  obviously,  nothing  remains  but  defeat  and 
devastation. 

Common  sense,  which  distinguishes  all  French  people, 
saves  them  from  the  worst  excesses  of  their  own  lively 
imaginings.  A  man  of  twenty-five  does  not  think  as  a 
man  of  forty-five.  In  the  same  way  the  politician  who 
begins  with  wild,  impracticable  dreams  of  social  equality 
and  emancipation,  quickly  finds,  when  called  to  office  and 
weighted  with  the  responsibilities  of  material  interests, 
that  his  political  aspirations  cannot  be  realized  without  too 
great  a  sacrifice  of  national  dignity  and  expediency. 

So  much  for  an  "apergu"  of  political  tendencies  in 
France.  The  Third  Republic  is  often  referred  to  in  the 
"chaleur  communicative  du  banquet,"  to  use  a  phrase 
originating  with  a  Minister's  after-dinner  confidences,  as  a 
direct  symbol  and  child  of  the  great  "  bouleversement "  of 
a  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago.  But,  as  a  matter  of 
strict  historical  fact,  it  is  somewhat  otherwise.  Thiers, 
when  he  founded  the  Third  Republic,  had  clearly  in  mind 
the  return  of  a  limited  monarchy.  The  second  President, 
Marshal  MacMahon,  was  really  elected  by  the  National 
Assembly  as  a  sort  of  Monk  preparing  the  way  for  the 


THE   MODERN   DEVELOPMENT   OF   FRANCE       7 

Restoration.  Examine  the  Constitution  of  1873,  and  you 
will  find  that  in  the  purely  representative  and  politically 
colourless  role  of  the  President  there  was  evident  intention 
to  give  him  the  character  of  an  uncrowned  constitutional 
King.  He  plays  a  part  which  is  effaced  and  appears  to 
have  no  real  weight  in  the  country.  Whilst  it  is  perfectly 
true  that  the  President  cannot  even  recall  a  Sous-Prefet  of 
a  department  on  his  own  initiative,  he  is,  at  the  same  time, 
invested  with  sovereign  powers  in  the  making  of  treaties, 
and,  had  he  the  necessary  individuality  and  strength  of 
character,  he  could  play  an  interesting  and  decided  social 
role.  Few  of  the  early  Presidents,  and  none  of  the  recent 
ones,  have  emerged  from  the  inconspicuousness  which  the 
party  caucus  that  elects  them  seems  determined  they  shall 
have ;  at  the  same  time,  the  real  reason  underlying  this 
selection  of  a  neutral  Chief  of  Executive  is  fear  of  a 
Dictator.  The  "coup  d'etat"  which  turned  the  Third 
Napoleon  from  a  Prince-President  into  an  Emperor, 
would,  perchance,  find  imitators  if,  instead  of  appointing 
men  purely  for  their  safe  and  colourless  personality,  the 
combined  Chambers  were  to  elect  Republicans  of  physical 
vigour,  capable  and  anxious  to  lead  in  their  country's 
destinies.  For  this  reason  the  brilliant  man  likely  to  be 
possessed  of  ambition  to  wear  the  cloak  of  a  Caesar,  is 
invariably  rejected  in  favour  of  Presidents  of  the  type  of 
Loubet  and  Fallieres,  who,  descended  from  good  peasant 
stock,  have  no  other  wish  than  to  carry  out  their  duties 
with  simple  and  unostentatious  devotion.  Yet  one  must 
regret  that  so  brilliant  a  people  as  the  French  are  forced 
by  political  exigencies  to  limit  their  choice  to  the  "  safe " 
man.  Sadi  Carnot  had  the  bearing  and  demeanour  of  an 
aristocrat :  he  was,  and  he  looked,  a  man  of  family.  The 
poignard  of  the  assassin  ended  his  days.  Casimir  Perier, 
another  Republican  of  good  birth  and  antecedents,  resigned 


8  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

ofifice  after  six  months ;  no  one  will  ever  know  why,  since 
his  secret  is  buried  with  him.  After  that,  Felix  Faure,  the 
immediate  predecessor  of  M.  Loubet,  showed  something 
of  the  temper  of  an  Imperialist  Pretender.  It  was  he  who 
invented  what  state  there  is  in  the  progress  of  a  President : 
the  "daumont"  with  its  postillions  and  outriders.  His 
death,  though  clearly  to  be  attributed  to  his  ill-health  at 
the  time,  is  persistently  interpreted  in  some  quarters  as  an 
act  of  precaution  by  the  dominant  party  in  the  State 
against  his  assumption  of  the  role  of  dictator. 

All  the  tendencies,  therefore,  of  modern  France  are 
towards  the  preservation  of  the  Republic,  because  men  of 
mark  are  speedily  pulled  down  and  their  progress  hindered  ; 
thus  the  dead  level  of  mediocrity  is  not  disturbed. 
In  that  delightful  play,  "  Le  Bois  Sacre,"  by  MM.  de 
Caillavet  and  de  Flers,  the  Minister  of  Fine  Arts  says : 
"  Talent !  What  do  you  want  with  talent  in  a  Republic  ? 
It  is  undemocratic  for  one  artist  to  paint  better  than 
another."  Any  commander  of  marked  ability  is  watched 
jealously  by  the  Republic  lest,  in  the  success  and  enthusi- 
asm engendered  by  his  victories,  he  become  a  dangerous 
aspirant  for  high  authority. 

In  the  dead  level  of  democracy  may  be  found,  perhaps, 
one  of  the  reasons  why  Parliamentarism  has  a  tendency  to 
become  sterile.  The  absence  of  real  leaders  is  of  the 
essence  of  Republicanism  ;  such  a  soil  is  unkindly  to  the 
growth  of  qualities  needful  to  distinction.  Hence,  it  may 
be  assumed  that  the  failure  of  Parliament,  of  which  I  speak 
in  these  pages,  is  largely  due  to  that  nice  balance  of 
mediocrities,  which  brings  about  stagnation.  Then,  again, 
big  issues  are  necessary  to  Parliamentary  progress ;  there 
must  be  a  vast  governmental  energy,  a  legislative  hasten- 
ing to  remedy  abuses  and  to  institute  refoims.  But,  in 
France,  at  the  present  day,  you  can  have,  practically,  none 


THE   MODERN  DEVELOPMENT   OF  FRANCE       9 

of  these  things.  The  great  questions  have  already  been 
settled.  There  is  no  House  of  Lords  to  throw  down  ;  the 
aristocracy  was  abolished  a  hundred  years  ago ;  in  the 
same  way,  the  land  question  was  for  all  time  solved  by  a 
seizure  of  the  property  of  the  nobles  and  by  a  minute 
subdivision  of  all  estates  amongst  the  peasantry. 

Whether  we  approve  or  not  of  confiscation  in  these  condi- 
tions— though  compensation,  or  restitution,  was  afterwards 
made — wc  have,  as  a  result,  a  peasantry  settled  upon  the 
land  and  deeply  attached  thereto,  possessing  instincts  that 
arc  conservative,  like  those  of  all  agrarian  peoples,  and 
whose  one  thought  is  to  add  field  to  field.  In  Russia,  the 
conditions  (if  we  except  the  ignorance  of  the  peasantry)  are 
very  much  the  same.  There  is  no  aristocracy  properly  so 
called.  Thanks  to  the  institution  of  the  Mir,  the  peasant 
holds  the  land.  He  has  no  political  aspirations  ;  he  cares 
nothing  for  revolutionary  outbreaks  and  never  rises  in 
revolt  against  police  and  administrations.  His  ambitions 
are  bounded  by  his  fields.  He  thinks  in  pastures,  and 
dreams  in  corn  lands.  God,  the  Tsar  and  the  Peasant : 
that  is  his  hierarchy.  He  has  no  feeling  except  that  of 
homage  towards  the  Little  Father ;  all  his  enmity  is 
directed  against  the  Intelligenzia  or  black-coats  in  the 
towns.  It  is  they  who  make  the  hubbub,  who  inspire 
revolutions  and  get  themselves  talked  about  in  newspapers ; 
so  that  the  world  thinks  that  Russia  is  coming  to  an  end — 
crumbling  to  pieces  in  a  vast  social  cataclysm. 

With  certain  qualifications,  these  remarks  apply  to 
France.  Here  you  have  the  peasant  working  upon  the 
land — two-thirds  of  the  population  live  in  the  villages 
and  hamlets.  The  one-third  in  the  towns  may  sway 
things  momentarily,  but  not  "all  the  time."  The  great 
Revolution,  it  is  true,  was  the  work  of  Paris  and  the  large 
towns,  which   imposed   their  will   on   the  country.     But 


lo  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

times  have  changed,  and  with  them  the  rural  dweller. 
He  is  no  longer  the  country  bumpkin,  ignorant  and  credu- 
lous. He  has  a  mind  of  his  own,  though  he  must  still 
take  his  politics  from  Paris  to  a  large  extent.  Yet  he 
knows  the  quality  of  the  men  who  speak  for  him,  and 
judges  them  much  more  dispassionately  than  the  towns- 
man, who  is  a  hot-headed  and  often  foolish  partisan.  A 
revolution  of  a  kind  might  well  be  brought  about  by  dis- 
contented workmen  in  the  towns,  but  the  landed,  settled 
country — the  blue-bloused  peasant — would  refuse  to  follow. 
This  is  the  conservatism  of  France,  the  great  passive  force 
resisting  innovations  and  brusque  changes  of  regime.  It 
is  not  for  me  to  prophesy  with  certitude  the  continued 
existence  of  the  Republic,  but  the  signs  certainly  are  in 
that  direction.  Monarchy  would  appear  to  be  dead,  hope- 
lessly dead,  and  it  has  scarcely  a  voice  left  at  the  elections. 
So  fully  is  this  realized  that  Bonapartists  and  Royalists 
disguise  their  real  political  identity,  either  under  the  name 
of  Nationalists,  which  covers  a  variety  of  political  creeds,  or 
of  Moderate  Republicans.  Each  succeeding  General  Elec- 
tion confirms  the  decision  of  the  people  to  be  governed 
as  a  pure  democracy.  Yet  it  is  always  possible  to  imagine 
some  great  personality  arising  who  would  wave  the  tri- 
colour and  flaunt  the  "  panache "  before  the  eyes  of  the 
people.  It  is  a  man  with  the  stomach  of  a  great  organizer 
who  would  lead  and  acquire  power  in  France,  some  one 
with  the  traits  of  Boulanger,  but  of  fibre  instead  of  clay. 
Had  the  General  been  a  man  of  decision  he  would  have 
found  his  way,  no  doubt,  to  the  Elysee.  Yet,  even  sup- 
posing the  power  assumed  and  the  people  hypnotized 
momentarily  by  the  splendour  of  fine  deeds  and  the  re- 
nown of  a  "  beau  nom,"  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the 
Dictator,  so  rudely  imposed,  could  retain  the  allegiance 
and  inspire  the  devotion  of  the  French  people.     History 


THE   MODERN   DEVELOPMENT   OF   FRANCE      ii 

establishes  the  French  love  of  change,  their  brusque 
methods  of  reform.  But  illusions  have  gone  with  ad- 
vancement in  philosophy  and  all  the  arts  of  civilization. 
The  twentieth-century  Frenchman,  of  ordinary  culture, 
refuses  to  believe  any  more  in  the  legislative  miracle,  just 
as  he  refuses  to  be  stirred  by  the  threat  of  revolution. 
His  scepticism  has  produced  a  sort  of  cynicism  and  a 
determination  to  count  only  on  himself.  This  attitude  is 
well  reflected  in  the  calm  that  descends  upon  the  country 
when  the  Chamber  is  in  recess.  It  is  apparent  that  its 
very  existence  is  something  of  a  bore,  in  any  case,  a  very 
potent  cause  of  trouble.  And  the  French  have  become 
an  irreverent  people,  caring  little  for  forms  and  cere- 
monies. They  have  thrown  down  the  Altar  ;  why  should 
they  set  up  the  Throne  ?  Again,  aristocracy  is  necessary 
as  a  support  to  royalty,  and  the  "  vieille  noblesse  "  exists 
no  more. 

For  this  reason,  a  permanent  return  to  monarchical  in- 
stitutions is  not  only  problematical,  but  almost  impossible. 
If  a  king  were  installed  in  the  palace  of  Madame  de 
Pompadour,  they  would  "  tutoyer  "  him  on  the  Boulevards, 
and  lampoons  would  appear  depicting  him  in  all  manner 
of  undignified  postures — unless  a  press  censorship  were 
established,  as  in  the  old  days  of  the  Second  Empire, 
which  is  hardly  to  be  thought  of  in  a  century  where  the 
liberty  and  even  the  licence  of  the  Fourth  Estate  is 
accepted  as  inevitable.  The  restrictions  upon  public 
writers,  imposed  by  the  Third  Napoleon,  are  partly 
responsible  for  the  present  unbridled  spirit  of  mockery ; 
contrast  and  love  of  contradiction  are  guiding  impulses 
with  the  Parisian.  These  things,  taken  together,  make  me 
think  that,  ephemeral  phases  of  ill-health  notwithstanding, 
the  Republic  is  of  sound  constitution  and  likely  to  live 
long  in  the  land.     A  throne  cannot  be  set  up  to  stand  by 


12  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

itself:  it  must  have  its  concomitants  :  its  aristocracy,  the 
elements  of  a  brilliant  Court,  its  traditions,  ceremonials 
and  usages,  and  finally,  it  must  live  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people. 

There  are  many  to  tell  you  that  the  Frenchman  is, 
at  bottom,  monarchical.  Especially  in  country  parts,  you 
will  find  people  of  the  older  generation  sighing  for  the  days 
when  an  Emperor  reigned  and  there  were  State  pageants 
in  some  other  shape  than  those  given  by  a  bourgeois 
President.  These  people  will  tell  you  that  manners  and 
morals  have  declined  under  the  present  regime;  that 
parents  are  frightened  at  their  children's  lack  of  respect ; 
that  the  wise  restraint  of  religion  exists  no  longer ;  that 
the  Mass,  muttered  through  perfunctorily,  has  come  to 
mean  a  social  ceremony  and  nothing  more,  and  that  there 
is  general  decadence  since  the  Church  ceased  to  be  a  vital 
influence  in  the  lives  of  the  people.  The  negligence, 
almost  the  penury  of  the  Presidential  household,  is  the 
common  theme  of  some  critics.  Horses  are  said  to  be 
hired  to  draw  the  Presidential  barouche  on  State  occasions. 
Are  not  the  receptions  at  the  palace  in  the  Faubourg  St. 
Honore  functions  to  which  one  sends  one's  concierge  and 
bootmaker  ?  Were  not  President  Grevy's  fetes  so  beggarly 
that  people  laughed  for  a  week  after  at  the  appearance  or 
the  guests  ?  at  their  tawdry  or  grimy  equipages  ?  Unques- 
tionably, there  is  little  eclat  in  Republican  ceremony  and 
circumstance.  Chiefs  of  the  State  have  not  been  distinc- 
tively decorative — on  the  contrary,  they  may  be  described 
as  commonplace.  Though  Felix  Faure  dreamed,  it  is  said, 
of  Napoleonic  splendour,  his  successors  have  carefully 
refrained  from  giving  any  such  impression.  Obviously, 
there  is  no  glamour  and  tinsel  in  this  Republic,  but  it 
suits  the  present  temper  of  the  people,  even  though  they 
are  monarchical  and  love  the  glitter  of  Royal  display. 


THE   MODERN   DEVELOPMENT   OF   FRANCE      13 

Along  a  certain  omnibus  route  in  Paris  is  a  section  of 
aristocratic  mien,  and  another  section,  situated  at  the 
extreme  end  of  the  line,  industrial  and  even  squalid  in 
character.  When  the  conductor  is  taking  fares  in  the 
aristocratic  quarter,  his  manners  are  impeccable.  He 
assumes  an  easy  smile  and  asks  politely  for  h^s  fares.  But, 
when  his  well-dressed  passengers  have  departed  and  the 
vehicle  is  filled  with  the  clerk  and  workman,  his  mood 
changes.  He  is  no  longer  subservient,  for  he  is  no  longer 
hopeful  of  an  extra  sou  in  response  to  his  insinuating 
smile.  He  knows  he  will  receive  the  hard  fare  and 
nothing  more,  and  so  his  demands  are  gruff,  and  his 
replies  as  laconic  as  possible.  There  has  entered  into  him 
a  spirit  of  the  "  fonctionnaire  "  with  his  habitual  disdain  of 
the  "  pekin."     This  is  typical  of  France. 

Napoleonic  wars  have  left  their  scars  upon  the  nation, 
just  as  has  the  Reign  of  Terror.  France  is  a  military 
nation,  but  she  is  a  military  nation  turned  pacific.  She  is 
like  the  robber  who  becomes  a  respectable  householder. 
There  are  days  when  the  yearning  for  the  old  unholy 
occupation  comes  strong  upon  him.  He  looks  out  of 
doors  and  remarks  the  fat  and  prosperous  passer-by, 
wondering  vaguely  what  would  happen  to  himself  if  he  ran 
after  his  hypothetical  victim,  knocked  him  down,  and  took 
his  watch.  In  the  same  way,  the  French  sometimes  look 
out  of  doors  to  see  the  "pantalons  rouges"  go  by — 
vivacious  "  petits  soldats  "  of  France,  as  merry  after  a  long 
day's  march  as  when  they  left  barracks  in  the  morning, 
And  martial  ardour  comes  upon  them  as  they  salute  the 
flag.  For  a  moment,  their  thoughts  take  a  reminiscent 
turn.  They  remember  that  they  were  soldiers  once,  and 
that  there  have  been  great  warriors  in  the  family : 
men  who  thought  more  of  glory  than  of  money,  men 
who   fought  for   country   and   added  territory   and   rich 


14  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

treasure  to  the  national  patrimony.  These  things  put  the 
breath  of  war  into  them  and,  in  imagination,  they  tramp 
behind  the  bugles  and  the  drums.  "  Panache "  reigns, 
atavism  speaks,  long  centuries  of  military  glory  grow  to  a 
sudden  eloquence. 

But  solid  prosperity  has  made  Jacques  Bonhomme  a 
pacific  person ;  his  victories  to-day  are  won  upon  the 
European  money-markets,  whereas,  formerly,  they  were 
gained  upon  the  field  of  carnage.  He  lends  money  to  all 
the  world  and  receives  good  and  safe  interest  for  it. 
When  Russia  felt  the  necessity  of  war  with  Japan,  to 
settle  the  nightmare  of  Manchuria,  she  went  to  Paris  to 
get  the  money.  Islam  grown  proud  and  combative  in  the 
new  turn  of  events  at  Constantinople,  wishes  to  build 
a  fleet  to  overawe  the  Greeks  ;  she,  too,  makes  request  to 
the  Protectors  of  the  Christians  in  the  Orient  for  the 
wherewithal.  The  "bas  de  laine"  of  the  peasants  of 
France  has  become  the  money-box  in  which  governments 
bent  on  industry  or  enterprise  dip  their  hands.  It  seems 
as  inexhaustible  as  the  Widow's  Cruse.  You  have,  theui 
two  divergent  influences  at  work :  the  old  spirit  speaking 
in  accents  of  military  genius,  and  the  small  prudent  voice 
of  the  obsequious  shopkeeper.  France  is  a  consummate 
shopkeeper,  yet  this  does  not  prevent  her  from  leading  in 
aeroplanes  and  other  romantic  things  that,  prima  facie, 
have  little  monetary  value  in  them. 

There  is  something  significant  in  the  fact  that  the  period 
between  the  First  Republic  and  the  Second  began  with 
Napoleon,  peer  of  Hannibal  and  Charlemagne,  and  ended 
with  the  son  of  Philippe  Egalite,  Louis  Philippe,  the 
bourgeois  king,  whose  symbol  of  office  was  an  umbrella, 
and  whose  sons  attended  a  lycee.  It  is  not  surprising  that 
in  those  days  of  the  good  citizen  king  there  was  evolved, 
as  emblem  of  the  nation,  the  figure  of  Joseph  Prudhomme, 


THE   MODERN   DEVELOPMENT   OF   FRANCE     15 

sleeker  and  slyer  even  than  John  Bull,  of  whose  corporeal 
features  I  have  never  been  particularly  proud.  Joseph 
Prudhomme  represents  a  typical  Frenchman  of  what 
English  people  call  the  early  Victorian  era.  He  is  a 
creature  pompous  and  self-satisfied,  who  is  perpetually 
counting  his  money.  . 

If  we  bridge  another  period,  a  period  which  includes 
the  brilliant  epoch  of  the  Third  Napoleon,  and  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  there  emerges  a  figure  which  has  for 
me  much  of  the  semblance  and  personal  characteristics  of 
the  national  Prudhomme :  it  is  Thiers,  the  saviour  of  the 
country,  the  man  who  secured  the  redemption  of  France 
after  the  War  of  '71,  and  its  First  President.  A  most 
worthy  man,  filled  with  a  true  and  noble  patriotism,  who 
spared  himself  no  pains  to  draw  his  country  from  the 
abyss  of  misfortune,  and  who  not  only  liberated  the 
territory  from  the  yoke  of  the  indemnity,  but  also  divined 
Bismarck's  new  Machiavellian  schemes  and  sought  and 
obtained  the  intervention  of  the  Tsar  Alexander  II. 
This  man,  I  say,  has  something  of  the  "tournure"  of 
Joseph  Prudhomme,  and  I  am  not  surprised  that  he  left 
the  Louvre  copies  of  old  masters,  or  that  he  should  have 
declared,  when  driven  forth  by  an  ungrateful  Republic  to 
his  own  fireside,  that  he  returned,  thankfully,  to  his 
"  cheres  etudes."  Those  who  have  read  the  bulky  result  of 
those  studies  (excellent,  however,  in  their  military  aspect) 
will  understand  the  smile  with  which  the  "  mot "  is  always 
received  in  France.  Here,  then,  is  a  bourgeois  thread  link- 
ing us  with  the  House  of  Orleans. 

As  to  the  Revolution  itself,  was  not  that  the  work 
of  the  bourgeoisie?  Were  not  Danton  and  Robespierre, 
Marat  and  the  others  so  many  middle-class  men?  It  is 
not  so  astonishing,  therefore,  if,  in  the  process  of  time,  this 
very  class  should  be  menaced  by  a  lower  stratum  surging 


\6  FRANCE  AND  THE   FRENCH 

to  the  top.  Is  it  not  rather  the  logic  of  events  ?  Yet  it  is 
singular  that  there  should  be  none  to  reap  the  succession 
of  the  great  middle  class  in  Parliament.  Who  is  to 
succeed  Clemenceau,  L6on  Bourgeois,  Poincare,  Henri 
Brisson,  Alexandre  Ribot  ?  No  man  from  this  social  rank 
is  visible  on  the  horizon  as  a  likely  candidate.  There  is 
M.  Paul  Deschanel,  polished,  erudite,  speaking  the  lan- 
guage of  real  oratory,  but  he  is  condemned  in  advance  for 
supposed  Reactionary  leanings. 

Therefore,  the  problem  poses :  Where  is  the  champion 
of  the  Middle  Classes?  The  process  is  perpetual  from 
below  upwards.  Jean  Jaures,  Socialist  orator,  is,  by  his 
theories,  the  predestined  leader  of  to-morrow — or,  at  least 
a  follower  of  his  school.  True,  his  origin  is  also  bour- 
geois, but  his  doctrines  are  of  the  proletariat.  Aristide 
Briand  has  conquered  Moderate  suffrages  by  a  denial  ot 
his  past  and  is,  to-day,  the  last  of  the  great  Bourgeois 
leaders.  Thus,  in  the  natural  course  of  things,  the  Middle 
Classes  will  be  submerged  by  the  classes  underneath.  To 
avoid  such  a  fate,  energy  and  resolution  and  courage 
beyond  the  wont  must  be  exhibited. 

Napoleon,  with  deep  knowledge  of  his  countrymen, 
gave  the  Constitution  a  rigid  frame  in  its  Ministries. 
He  took  care  that  though  Cabinets  might  come,  and 
Cabinets  might  go,  the  great  Departments  of  State 
should  flow  on  for  ever.  The  Minister  has  almost 
regal  power  and  position.  He  moves  like  a  sovereign 
through  the  country  on  official  tours.  His  arrival  is 
heralded  by  telegraph  and  punctuated  with  brass  bands, 
official  delegations  headed  by  the  Prefect  and  "  vins 
d'honneur."  An  English  Cabinet  Minister  quietly 
descends  at  the  station,  bag  in  hand,  addresses  the 
assembled  burgesses  at  the  Town  Hall,  and  as  quietly 
departs,  without  a   mobilization  of   the   local    corps    of 


THE   MODERN   DEVELOPMENT   OF   FRANCE      17 

volunteers  or  even  of  the  firemen — to  quench  inflammatory 
language  perhaps — or  so  much  as  an  obsequious  hand- 
shake by  the  Lord-Lieutenant  of  the  county.  The 
President,  as  the  apex  of  the  Constitution,  is  also  more 
royal  than  a  king  in  his  journeyings.  Everywhere  his 
progress  is  marked  by  fanfares  blaring  the  Marseillaise, 
by  banquets  and  gatherings  of  public  officials  and  by 
the  distribution  of  crosses  and  decorations  of  all  sorts. 
Though,  in  the  public  eye,  the  symbol  and  representa- 
tive of  the  Republic,  the  President  is  much  less  directly 
powerful  than  a  Minister.  The  Minister  is  the  real  fount 
of  honour,  and  his  patronage  means  the  blossoming  of 
button-holes  with  a  garniture  of  ribbon.  The  great 
Corsican,  in  his  wisdom,  saw  that  the  French  needed 
masters,  and  gave  departmental  omnipotence  to  the 
members  of  the  Government.  They  represent  rigidity 
and  permanence  in  a  country  which,  till  recently,  was 
famous  for  its  floating  politics.  Waldeck-Rousseau's 
Ministry  of  three  years  established  a  record  for  longevity  ; 
since  that  day  there  have  been  others  to  equal  it,  within  a 
few  months,  in  the  tenure  of  their  rank. 

Yet,  as  I  show  above,  the  conditions  of  democratic 
government  in  France  are  such  as  to  prevent  a  great 
legislative  accomplishment.  The  nice  balance  of  momen- 
tum with  inertia  produces  equipoise — a  sort  of  sterile 
stability,  a  stable  infecundity.  It  is  simply  progress  round 
a  circle,  an  orbit  marked  and  measured,  the  swathe  of  the 
governmental  scythe.  It  becomes  those  who  are  con- 
cerned at  the  stagnation  to  prescribe  a  remedy.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  the  "  scrutin  de  liste,"  or  list-voting,  has 
come  to  the  fore,  since  the  appeal  to  a  department,  instead 
of  to  a  small  community,  gives  a  greater  choice  of  candi- 
dates. There  is  chance  for  real  distinction  to  emerge 
in   the   broad    area    of   a   county,    whereas   election    by 


i8  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

arrondissements  gives  currency  and  emphasis  to  local  pre- 
judices and  brings  into  undue  prominence  the  intrigues  of 
localities  to  forward  their  own  interests. 

Thus  M.  Dupont,  deputy  for  "  un  petit  trou  pas  cher," 
found  favour  with  his  electors  and  obtained  renewal  of  his 
Parliamentary  mandate  by  voting  for  the  use  of  public 
moneys  in  the  construction  of  a  canal  or  hippodrome 
affecting  chiefly  his  own  constituency.  Many  a  man, 
elected  under  the  old  system,  has  found  that  to  propose 
expenditure,  which  expenditure  would  fall  upon  the 
national  purse,  was  the  surest  and  speediest  means  of 
ensuring  popularity.  The  disregard  of  the  ordinary 
deputy  for  national  interests  is  one  of  the  conspicuous 
defects  of  the  democratic  regime  in  France,  and,  indeed, 
everywhere  on  the  civilized  globe.  This  extension  of  the 
Parliamentary  constituency  is  thought  to  be  of  value  in 
reforming  Parliament ;  but  it  is  not  quite  clear  whether 
the  result  aimed  at  will  be  realized.  In  any  case,  it  is  a 
melancholy  state  of  affairs  when  Parliamentarism  has  to 
be  galvanized  into  life,  or  some  appearance  of  life,  by  the 
constant  injection  of  new  political  serums.  It  points  to 
serious  malady  in  the  body  politic,  a  certain  unhealthiness 
of  the  constituent  organs  of  public  opinion.  These 
experiments  to  encourage  patriotism,  are  they  not  symp- 
toms of  a  decay  in  representative  government  ?  Do  they 
not  mark  a  period  of  uneasy  calm,  presaging  a  violent  and 
early  change  in  regime  ?  As  I  have  said,  elsewhere,  in  this 
chapter,  no  return  to  the  old  Monarchical  institution  can 
be  anticipated,  that  is,  no  permanent  return,  but  that  does 
not  preclude  the  possibility  of  some  adventurous  reformer 
clutching  at  the  reins  of  power  and  momentarily  occupy- 
ing the  seat  of  driver  of  the  Republican  coach.  Develop- 
ment will  come,  perhaps,  in  "  a  series  of  little  tragedies," 
as  M.  Alfred  Capus  happily  expressed  it,  in  a  conversation 


THE   MODERN   DEVELOPMENT   OF   FRANCE      19 

with  the  writer.  There  will  be  a  constant  rectification  of  the 
frontier  line  as  one  class  moves  upwards  and  encroaches 
upon  the  territory  of  the  other. 

If  there  is  decadence,  it  is  unaccompanied  by  iri- 
descence: the  bright  unnatural  glow  which  persons  in  a 
fever  show,  often  regarded  as  health  by  the.  unpractised 
eye.  There  is,  certainly,  no  brilliant  dawn  in  France 
suggesting  the  days  of  poetic  realizations.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  no  sunset,  flaming  red  and  orange,  as  of  a 
nation  sinking  to  the  evening  dark.  The  light  remains 
steady,  with  opalescent  effect. 

France  of  to-day  is  faced  with  problems  that  every 
nation,  however  strong,  will  sooner  or  later,  have  to  solve. 
She  has  fought  and  settled  all  those  thorny  matters,  which, 
at  this  moment,  fill  the  British  prophets  with  great  doubt 
as  to  their  nation's  safe  emergence  therefrom  ;  but  there 
are  others  of  a  vaster  potentiality  and,  perhaps,  of  a  graver 
import.  Take,  for  instance,  the  dwindling  population  ;  how 
shall  it  be  met  ?  Here  is  a  public  matter  and  here  is  a 
private  matter  :  which  view  shall  prevail  ?  If  it  is  a  private 
business,  this  rearing  of  children,  who  shall  intervene 
save  in  the  name  of  the  Scriptural  injunction,  "  Increase 
and  multiply,"  given  in  the  early  days  of  the  world's 
history  and  having,  in  any  case,  lessened  significance  in  a 
country  which  has  broken  largely  with  established  religion 
and  with  conventional  belief?  But,  if  child-bearing  is  of 
value  to  the  community,  shall  not  the  community  pay, 
shall  it  not  render  itself  liable  for  the  rearing  and  education 
and  sustenance,  during  years  of  minority,  of  the  children 
that  are  brought  into  the  world  at  the  dictates  of  an 
altruistic  patriotism?  The  Frenchman  of  to-day,  with 
the  cold  logic  that  distinguishes  him,  is  apt  to  argue  in 
this  way.  "  If  the  State  require  me  to  have  children,"  he 
says,  "  then  the  State  must  compensate  me  for  the  extra 


20  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

burden  it  places  on  my  shoulders."  Part  ot  the  reluctance 
of  French  parents  to  give  hostages  to  fortune  is  the  feeling 
and  tradition,  deeply  rooted,  that  they  must  leave  their 
offspring  in  as  good  a  position,  financially,  as  they  were 
themselves  at  the  moment  of  bringing  those  children  into 
the  world.  It  is  a  complicated  system  of  self-protection 
and  a  highly  scientific  thought  for  to-morrow  which  keeps 
the  birth-rate  down  and  threatens  the  very  continuance  of 
the  race.  H.  G.  Wells,  in  a  remarkable  article,  asks :  "  How 
do  you  propose  to  employ  the  children  ?  As  food  for 
powder,  or  food  for  capitalists  ? "  Clearly  it  is  not 
sufficient  to  fill  the  quiver:  you  must  know  whither  the 
arrows  are  destined  in  their  flight  through  the  world. 

I  believe  that  the  great  problems,  with  which  France 
will  have  to  deal  in  the  immediate  future,  will  have  intimate 
connection  with  this  haunting  alternative  :  food  for  capital- 
ists or  food  for  powder.  Anti-militarism — we  have  heard 
much  of  it,  more  than  is  at  present  warranted,  perhaps — is 
a  question  that  will  have  to  be  faced  as  the  world  grows 
more  enlightened,  higher  education  more  widely  dissemin- 
ated, and  armaments  and  means  of  destroying  fellow-men 
less  in  consonance  with  civilized  opinion. 

Another  result  of  modern  life  is  the  enfeebling  of  the 
human  body,  rendering  a  man  less  apt  for  war.  As  the 
complexities  and  refinements  of  existence  increase,  the  hard- 
ships of  military  campaigning  become  insupportable  to  the 
race.  The  theory  that  intellectual  achievements  and  physical 
exercise  are  diametrically  opposed  weighs  with  the  French 
parents  in  their  attitude  towards  sport.  They  are  convinced 
that  one  cannot  be  carried  on  without  injury  to  the  other. 

In  a  different  order  of  ideas  is  the  Socialism  existing 
in  Germany  as  well  as  in  France,  which  likewise  weakens 
the  military  arm.  Recent  elections  and  the  admissions  of 
a  high  military  officer  have  given  point  to  the  suggestion 


THE   MODERN   DEVELOPMENT   OF   FRANCE      21 

that  the  citadel  of  Imperialism  is  undermined  by  Social 
Democracy.  The  army  is  admittedly  attacked.  Does  the 
future  offer  prospects  of  peace  by  reason  of  the  union  of 
the  proletariat  to  prevent  war  ?  Will  the  Monster  be  de- 
throned whose  dragon  shape  upon  the  horizon  casts  into 
the  black  shadow  of  onerous  fiscal  conditions  and  a  grind- 
ing blood-tax  a  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of  laborious 
peoples  ?  Socialists  in  France  and  Socialists  in  Germany 
are  reaching  out  to  the  Universal  Brotherhood  which, 
when  it  comes — if  ever  it  does  come — will  usher  in  the 
reign  of  Universal  Peace  and  concord  upon  earth,  when 
swords  shall  be  turned  into  plough-shares  and  spears  into 
pruning-hooks.  A  millennium  of  this  sort  is  evidently  not 
of  to-day,  nor  of  to-morrow — perhaps  not  of  any  morrow. 
We  must  accept  things  as  they  are,  and  we  must  recog- 
nize, even  if  we  be  Pacifists — conscious  to  the  full  of  the 
horrors  and  absurdities  of  war — that  the  military  regime 
has  done  this  much  good  to  France,  that  it  has  brought 
home  to  the  people  the  wondrous  lesson  which  we  may 
call  "  la  charge  de  la  communaute."  Whenever  the  Man 
in  the  Street  sees  the  regiment  go  by  he  must  recognize 
it  as  the  embodiment  of -the  national  spirit,  the  symbol  of 
self-sacrifice,  calling  upon  him,  if  need  be,  to  leave  his  fire- 
side and  his  personal  affairs  to  defend  the  national  soil. 
He  realizes  the  value  of  such  a  lesson  to  people  given  up, 
as  modern  communities  are,  to  an  engrossing  commercial- 
ism, to  an  all-absorbing  interest  in  the  accumulation  of  the 
"  bien  etre."  He  realizes  that  he  is  part  of  a  great  defen- 
sive army  which  is  bound  to  risk  its  life  and  give  its 
physical  and  mental  best  to  the  protection  of  the  country 
against  the  invader.  These  things  have  an  inestimable 
influence  upon  the  formation  of  the  national  character. 
They  replace  Jingoism  by  a  practical  patriotism,  and  they 
make  each  man   conscious   that  in   his  person  is  some 


2  2  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

portion  of  the  national  flag,  some  intimate,  integral  part  of 
the  great  national  existence. 

In  its  physical  aspects  the  universal  call  to  arms  has  an 
immense  and  increasing  effect.  Quite  recently  the  French 
have  adopted  the  two  years'  military  service  system.  At 
the  time  of  introducing  this  change  they  resolved,  in  order 
to  compensate  for  the  loss  that  such  an  innovation  en- 
tailed in  the  effectives  of  the  army,  to  suppress  all  exemp- 
tions. Up  to  that  moment  a  little  political  influence  went 
a  very  long  way  in  excusing  young  men  of  unmilitary 
ambitions  from  the  "  corvee "  of  the  three  years'  service 
with  the  colours.  Those  who  passed  their  baccalaureate 
were  by  right  excused  two  years  of  the  term,  and  enjoyed 
the  privileged  position  of  one-year  soldiers.  These  ex- 
emptions, indeed,  were  widespread.  The  only  son  of  a 
widowed  mother  was  placed  in  the  same  category  as 
the  "  bachelor  "  ;  young  seminarists  were  excused  service, 
as  were  future  officers  attending  the  military  academy  of 
St.  Cyr  and  the  other  special  schools  which  furnish  com- 
missions in  the  French  army.  The  halcyon  days  of  this 
privileged  community  are  now  over ;  every  young  man, 
even  the  senator's  son,  must  complete  his  full  term  in  a 
regiment,  and,  moreover,  authority  is  less  indulgent  to- 
wards any  absence  from  drill.  These  hardships,  if  they 
are  hardships  in  the  real  sense,  have  wrought  an  infinite 
physical  good  to  the  nation.  The  rising  generation,  which 
is  inclined  to  be  self-indulgent  in  the  pursuit  of  a  quiet  life 
in  the  country,  has  been  strengthened  in  body  and  mind 
by  discipline  and  by  service  in  the  rough  school  of  the 
barrack  square,  with  its  sharp  commands  as  sharply 
answered.  Route  marching  over  long  distances  under  the 
weight  of  rifles  and  knapsacks  is  a  severe  physical  train- 
ing which  has  effected  the  greatest  good  in  upbuilding  the 
physique  and  in  accustoming  men  to  fatigue  and  resistance 


THE  MODERN  DEVELOPMENT  OF  FRANCE   23 

to  climatic  changes.  Judged  from  this  point  of  view, 
the  constant  fear  of  invasion  by  a  foreign  army  is  most 
salutary  in  preventing  people  like  the  French,  inclined  to 
exaggeration  in  all  things,  from  becoming  emasculated  and 
physically  degenerate. 

That  excellent  writer,  Norman  Angell,  whose  "Great 
Illusion  "  is  one  of  the  most  suggestive  of  books,  calls 
attention  to  the  great  role  of  the  money  markets  of  the 
world  in  the  maintenance  of  peace.  The  more  compli- 
cated those  relations  grow,  the  less  likelihood  there  is,  he 
thinks,  of  an  outbreak  of  hostilities.  Whether  we  accept 
this  extremely  interesting  theory  with  the  confident 
optimism  which  he  bestows  upon  it,  at  least  we 
must  realize  that  France,  during  the  last  few  years,  has 
come  to  play  the  part  of  peacemaker  in  Europe,  because 
of  her  vast  and  superabundant  wealth.  Is  it  not  remark- 
able that,  whilst  the  conqueror  of  forty  years  ago  is  feeling, 
to  a  distressing  degree,  the  obligation  to  provide  for  a  vast 
army  and  a  vast  navy,  the  victims  of  her  military 
predominance,  with  half  the  population  and  half  the 
industrial  development,  have  become  the  great  money- 
lenders of  the  world  ?  Nations  can  hardly  wage  war 
without  the  consent  of  wealthy  Marianne.  The  late 
autumn  of  1910  offered  a  curious  example  of  a  French 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  dictating  terms  to  would-be 
borrowers.  When  the  Government  of  Constantinople  asked 
for  ;f  6,000,000  from  French  pockets  to  acquire  a  navy,  the 
French  Minister  (M.  Pichon)  replied  :  "  If  we  give  you  the 
money,  you  must  give  us  undertakings  as  to  the  spending 
of  it."  In  the  same  way,  when  Hungary  approached 
France  for  a  loan  of  ;£"22,ooo,ooo,  the  proposal  was  refused 
because  the  produce  was  to  be  used  in  a  direction  inimical 
to  French  interests  and  for  the  advancement  of  the  offen- 
sive policy  of  the   Triple  Alliance.     In  both  cases  the 


24         FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

money  was  obtained  with  difficulty  elsewhere,  but  here 
was  a  new,  and  perhaps,  dangerous  diplomatic  demonstra- 
tion of  the  power  of  gold. 

We  have  traced  rapidly  the  development  of  modern 
France  from  the  stirring  and  terrible  times  of  the  great 
Revolution  through  the  Directory  and  Consulate,  to  the 
brilliant  and  yet  disastrous  epoch  of  the  First  Empire ; 
thence,  to  the  unsatisfactory  period  of  the  Restoration 
and  the  rapid  end,  with  the  Bourgeois  King,  of  the 
legitimate  line,  and  the  reappearance  of  the  Napoleonic 
legend — eighteen  years  of  meretricious  Empire.  We  have 
pointed  to  the  timid  and  almost  Monarchical  beginnings 
of  the  Third  Republic  and,  in  the  pages  that  follow,  we 
attempt  to  prove  that  France  has  eventually  arrived  at 
the  steep  wall,  beyond  which  is  an  uninviting  country : 
a  howling  wilderness  of  untried  and  perilous  political 
theories.  We  show  that  the  Bourgeoisie  which  has  enjoyed 
forty  years  of  Bourgeois  government,  is  in  danger  of  the 
domination  of  a  class  which  has  had  no  experience  in 
the  handling  of  responsible  interests.  So  much  for  the 
internal  situation  and  policy  of  France. 

In  the  wider  field  of  "  welt-politik,"  she  realizes  that  the 
phase  of  conquest  is  over.  No  more  shall  she  issue  to 
trembling  Europe  the  lofty  challenge  of  a  Continental 
System  ;  no  more  [save,  perhaps,  in  Morocco,  where  she  is 
the  policeman  of  Europe]  shall  she  wrest  the  desert  from 
nomadic  tribesmen  ;  no  longer  shall  she  plant  the  Tricolor 
on  distant  continents,  on  the  vast  and  peopled  plains  of 
Asiatic  dependencies.  These  days  of  glory  and  military 
"panache"  are  ended.  She  must  be  content  to  draw 
what  advantage  she  can  from  the  possession  of  unbounded 
wealth,  which  enables  her  to  dictate  a  policy  to  those  who 
seek  her  financial  aid.  She  possesses  the  power  of  the 
purse ;  is  it  not  as  potent  as  that  of  the  sword  ? 


CHAPTER    II 
A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES 

THERE  is  nothing  more  difficult  or  delicate  to  dis- 
cuss than  morality.  What  do  we  mean  by  morality? 
It  has  different  interpretations  in  different  lands. 
Some  cynic  declared  that  it  was  purely  a  question  of  latitude. 
The  French,  certainly,  have  ideas  of  morality  different  from 
the  English.  As  to  whether  they  are  worse  or  better,  that 
is  fit  subject  for  discussion,  but  I  make  no  attempt  to  settle 
it  here.  I  have  heard  French  people  object  to  the  "Geisha" 
on  the  ground  that  it  was  immoral,  though  to  most  English 
people  it  seems  the  most  innocent  of  musical  comedies. 
To  the  cold,  logical  French  mind,  the  "  Geisha "  meant  a 
certain  thing,  and  nothing  else :  nor  could  there  be  any 
romance  or  prettiness  in  it.  In  the  same  way,  I  have  heard 
disapproval  of  the  high-kicking  of  English  "danseuses." 
It  is  indelicate  as  well  as  inartistic,  say  the  critics,  yet  in 
establishments  in  Montmartre  the  provocative  exhibition 
of  linen  is  anything  but  refined  or  moral.  How  do  you 
account  for  this  apparent  inconsistency,  this  sudden  access 
of  prudery  ?  I  take  it  that  the  French  like  to  keep  their 
entertainments  in  water-tight  compartments  :  the  decent 
rigidly  decent,  whilst  the  indecorous  may  be  astoundingly 
improper.  This  desire  to  mark  respectability  from  its  con- 
verse is  seen  in  the  plainness  with  which  the  "jeune  fille" 
of  bourgeois  family  dresses,  in  distinction,  doubtless,  from 

25 


26  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

the  splendours  of  the  "  demi-mondaine."  In  the  same  way 
the  literature  given  to  children  in  respectable  houses  in 
France  is  astonishingly  insipid  and  cannot  compare  in 
matter  or  treatment  with  the  English  or  American 
child's  story — again  a  desire  to  erect  a  barrier  between 
the  highly-spiced  literature  of  later  years.  The  strict- 
ness with  which  girls  are  brought  up  in  France  con- 
trasts all  the  more  vividly  with  their  liberty  as  married 
women. 

In  what  are  called  the  "lieux  de  plaisir"  of  Paris  there 
is  certainly  no  nice  regard  for  decency.  Ribald  gaiety  and 
manifestations  of  the  grosser  spirit  prevail.  It  is  true  that 
these  places  are  not,  as  a  rule,  frequented  by  Parisians. 
The  English  and  American  bulk  largely  in  the  summer 
population  of  the  city,  and  there  is,  at  all  times,  a  vast  in- 
gathering of  foreigners  and  provincials  sufficient  to  keep 
going  a  dozen  establishments  of  doubtful  "  genre."  The 
chief  upholder  of  the  objectionable  spectacle  of  the  gay 
restaurant  is  the  visitor  and  not  the  Parisian.  When  the 
Boer  War  was  in  progress  and  English  people  abstained 
from  Paris  by  reason  of  the  Anglophobia  of  the  Press,  and 
from  a  reluctance  to  adopt  the  festive  air  whilst  their 
country  was  passing  through  a  crisis,  the  Moulin  Rouge — 
historic  home  of  the  can-can — closed  its  doors.  It  could 
not  live  without  the  English.  Here,  again,  is  a  problem  in 
morality  or  expediency. 

The  Parisian  who  visits  such  spectacles  is  a  "  rara  avis." 
The  chief  supporter  of  all  shows  of  the  kind  is  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  who,  rigidly  correct  in  his  behaviour  at  home,  un- 
bends abroad.  He  does  not  realize  that  his  patronage  of 
vulgar  pleasures  is  misconstrued  into  approval.  I  have 
met  distinguished  Frenchmen,  Paris-bred,  who,  even  in 
student  days,  have  never  seen  the  inside  of  a  "  cabaret 
artistique."     It  is  possible  to  find  numbers  of  respectable 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       27 

French  who  never  visit  cafes,  regarding  the  practice  as  a 
waste  of  time  incompatible  with  a  serious  career. 

There  is,  I  know,  another  reason  which  is  less  praise- 
worthy. Young  men  of  the  present  day  often  decline  the 
cheap  comforts  and  easy  environment  of  a  cafe  simply 
because  they  are  accessible  to  everybody  artd  signify — or 
seem  to  signify — that  one  is  without  social  relations,  and, 
therefore,  dependent  on  such  institutions.  Such  a  class 
of  man  will  not  be  seen,  even  in  the  better  sort  of  restaur- 
ants, for  fear  of  the  accusation  that  he  has  no  friends  to 
invite  him  to  dinner. 

All  this  comes  within  the  borders  of  expediency — the 
larger  area  of  morality.  Take,  again,  the  marriage  ques- 
tion. The  Frenchman  shows  cold-blooded  calculation  in 
the  choice  of  a  wife,  which  is  guided  to  some  extent  by  the 
value  of  her  "  dot."  Most  careful  attention  is  given  to  the 
question  of  fortune,  and  the  ideal  marriage  is  supposed  to 
be  the  union  of  a  man  and  woman  whose  fortunes  are 
identical.  Certainly,  so  careful  a  commercial  arrangement 
prevents  many  of  the  disappointments  that  await  married 
life  in  England.  In  France  a  man  knows  exactly  what  he 
is  going  in  for  and  what  he  has  to  expect.  Marriage  with- 
out love  is  fairly  common  in  England,  and  less  common 
than  one  would  suppose  in  France.  By  a  merciful  dis- 
pensation of  Providence,  the  love  seems  to  come  after 
marriage,  after  common  life  has  begun  and  given  to  each 
the  knowledge  of  the  other's  temperament.  By  virtue  of 
her  "dot,"  the  woman  has  a  certain  economic  indepen- 
dence, which  renders  her  a  partner  in  her  husband's 
undertakings,  since  she  has  contributed  as  much  as  he  to 
the  capital.  If  the  French  law  is  far  from  according  to 
woman  her  just  rights,  in  the  matter  of  guarantees,  she 
has,  at  least,  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  frequent 
distressing  scenes  over  housekeeping  and  dress  accounts, 


28  FRANCE  AND   THE   FRENCH 

which  dog  the  footsteps  of  many  a  wife  in  England,  are 
obviated  by  the  reason  that  she  is  spending  her  own 
money. 

It  is  difficult,  no  doubt,  on  moral  grounds,  to  defend  the 
selection  of  a  future  mate  in  life  by  circumstances  of  for- 
tune and  suitability  rather  than  the  natural  instinct  of  a 
man,  which  is  supposed  to  prevail  in  England ;  but  the 
custom  of  marrying  where  money  is,  is  not  unknown  with 
us,  nor  does  it  tend  to  married  unhappiness  where  it  does 
exist.  There  is  something  to  be  said  for  the  system  which 
gives  security  to  the  "bien  etre"  and  safeguards  the 
dignity  of  the  household  from  the  disaster  and  even  moral 
degradation  that  so  often  follow  the  loss  of  fortune.  Then, 
again,  the  close  union  of  families  which,  in  France,  results 
from  intermarriage,  imposes  certain  moral  restraints  which, 
however  irksome  to  the  marital  temperament,  do  not,  as 
far  as  I  can  judge,  turn  out  badly.  The  freedom  of  the 
married  woman  is,  certainly,  sharply  contrasted  with  the 
constant  parental  surveillance  of  the  young  girl.  Though 
(as  I  show  elsewhere)  there  is  a  tendency  to  break  down 
the  Chinese  Wall  of  convention,  it  is  not  as  general  as  some 
would  have  us  believe. 

The  saving  habit,  early  inculcated,  is  another  cause 
which,  whilst  it  leads  to  unlovely  economy,  has  a  binding 
and,  in  a  certain  sense,  restraining  influence  in  family  life. 
It  has  been  said  that  everything  is  preordained  in  France 
except  the  traffic,  whilst  in  England  nothing  is  preordained 
except  the  police  control  of  the  highways.  History 
cannot  be  left  out  of  any  consideration  of  a  people,  with 
the  complicated  civilization  of  the  French,  and  their  in- 
tense thriftiness  may  be  said  to  be  the  direct  result  of  the 
grinding  poverty,  which  weighed  upon  them  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  It  was  this  poverty  which  provoked 
the  Revolution — a  poverty  accentuated  by  the  escape  of  a 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       29 

numerous  privileged  class  from  taxation.  Economic  con- 
ditions have  played  the  leading  role  ever  since,  in  insurrec- 
tions in  this  and  other  countries.  As  a  rule,  a  prosperous 
people  are  immune  from  dynastic  disturbances,  and  the 
long  and  comparatively  calm  rule  of  constitutional  mon- 
archy in  England  results  from  the  fact  that  the  British 
working  classes  have  been,  until  lately,  in  a  comparatively 
better  position,  materially  and  morally,  than  their  neigh- 
bours on  the  Continent.  That  this  is  no  longer  true,  to- 
day, or  much  less  true  than  formerly,  provides  one  of  the 
greatest  problems  for  the  future  governance  of  the  people 
in  the  United  Kingdom.  The  presence  of  a  large  mass  of 
unemployed  and  of  unskilled  workers,  a  prey  to  the  un- 
certainties of  existence,  may  be  a  reason  why  an  atmo- 
sphere of  discontent  has  grown  up  for  which  a  remedy  is 
sought  in  various  empirical  ways.  Obviously,  unemploy- 
ment is  one  of  the  most  important  problems  with  which  a 
Government  can  deal,  and  there  is  nothing  more  dangerous 
for  the  tranquillity  of  a  community  than  poverty  in  its 
most  hopeless  and  degraded  form. 

Outward  circumstances  change  the  character  of  a  people 
to  an  extraordinary  and  unexpected  extent.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  a  profound  change  in  the  temperament  of 
the  French  has  resulted  from  their  reverses  in  1 870.  They 
lost  their  light-heartedness  and  gaiety  of  spirits  at  Sedan 
and  they  have  not  recovered  them  since.  The  modern 
Parisian  has  neither  the  expansiveness  nor  the  good 
humour  of  his  forbears.  A  Frenchman  of  the  older 
school  is  a  totally  different  being  in  character  from  his 
successors  to-day.  The  stranger  is  struck  with  the  reserve 
that  meets  him  everywhere  in  Northern  France,  and,  if  the 
Meridional  has  kept  something  of  his  exuberance,  he  has, 
in  the  process,  estranged  himself  from  the  rest  of  his 
countrymen,   with   the    result   that   there  is   as   great  a 


30  FRANCE  AND  THE   FRENCH 

temperamental  difference  between  a  Northern  and  Southern 
Frenchman  as  between  a  German  and  a  Southern  Italian. 
Frenchmen  are  no  longer  as  communicative  and  as  free  in 
conversation  as  before  the  War ;  they  have  imbibed  some- 
thing of  the  phlegm  of  the  Briton  and  Teuton.  The 
modern  German  is  much  more  boastful  and  aggressive 
than  the  modern  Frenchman.  Reticence  towards  the 
stranger  has  contributed  to  a  loss  of  charm  in  France,  and 
one  is  struck  by  the  seriousness  of  the  people. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  English  appear  to  have  grown 
more  frivolous,  more  addicted  to  pleasure,  than  aforetime, 
whilst  they  have  added  immeasurably  to  their  outward 
graces.  Real  politeness  is  much  more  common  in  England 
than  in  France.  This  is  not  to  say  that  the  Frenchman 
has  grown  impolite,  but  that  he  keeps  his  manners  and  his 
ceremonial  usages  for  his  own  kith  and  kin.  His  treat- 
ment of  a  lady  to  whom  he  has  not  been  introduced  is 
often  curiously  casual.  The  stranger  is  no  longer  welcomed 
with  effusiveness  and,  indeed,  is  chilled  sometimes  by  an 
apparent  lack  of  appreciation  of  his  society.  The  native- 
born  Frenchman  is  inclined  to  distrust  everything.  He  is 
suspicious.  This  is  seen  in  his  business  operations,  which 
are  safeguarded  with  astonishing  precautions.  Non-specu- 
lative and  un-enterprising  by  instinct  and  training,  he  in- 
vests his  savings  only  in  gilt-edged  securities  ;  Government 
bonds  of  all  denominations  attract  him.  For  this  reason 
he  has  become  the  money-lender  of  the  world.  Com- 
paratively few  of  his  savings  go  in  enterprises  at  home  or 
abroad  where  the  slightest  risk  exists.  His  own  industries 
often  languish  for  want  of  funds.  There  are  undeveloped 
tracts  in  France  containing  mineral  wealth  which  might, 
reasonably,  be  exploited  if  there  were  more  adventure 
among  the  commercial  and  moneyed  classes.  But  this 
very  exaggeration  of  prudence  has  caused  Prudhomme  to 


A  STUDY  IN  COMPARATIVE  MORALITIES       31 

turn  banker  for  the  more  industrially-developed  nations  or 
for  the  smaller  States  whom  he  can  dominate  with  his 
capital.  Thus,  France  has  a  voice  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world,  because  of  her  solid  interests  in  other  people's  con- 
cerns, and  apart  from  her  own  political  position.  Her 
influence  is  in  no  small  measure  due  to  the  expatriated 
wealth  of  the  "  rentier." 

In  England,  the  tendency  is  to  concentrate  large  masses 
of  capital  in  few  hands.  This  is  apparent  in  all  bond 
issues.  British  Consols  can  only  be  held,  except  as  Post 
Office  savings,  in  packets  of  ;^ioo,  which  fact  is  largely 
responsible  for  their  low  price,  whereas  one-fourth  of  a  ;6^20 
Municipal  Bond  is  a  common  form  of  investment  among  the 
saving  poor  in  France.  To  such  a  length  is  this  principle 
carried  that  a  person  subscribing  for  one  to  five  shares  in 
France  in  any  concern  of  high  guarantee  is  certain  to 
receive  his  allotment.  The  tendency  of  French  finance  is 
to  increase  the  number  of  shareholders  instead  of  limiting 
it  as  in  England,  where  preference  is  given  to  the  applica- 
tion of  the  wealthy  capitalist. 

A  Frenchman's  supiciousness  betrays  itself  in  all  social  \ 
and  commercial  relations.     If  a  man  is  invited  to  dinner    ' 
by  a  host  whom  he  does   not  know  intimately,  he  will 
immediately  suspect  an  ulterior  motive.     "  What  does  he     ^ 
want  to  get  out  of  me  ?  "  he  asks  himself     He  does  not 
comprehend  the  open-handed  hospitality  of  the  English, 
who  throw  wide  their  doors  to  strangers  with  the  facility 
with   which   a    Frenchman    leaves    his    card    upon   you. 
Foreigners  of  long  residence  in  France,  even  if  they  are 
personally   liked,  rarely   have  an   opportunity  of  seeing 
a   French  home,  and   this   strange  exclusiveness   is  still 
persisted  in,  notwithstanding  the  great  growth  of  business 
relations  between  the  two  countries  and  a  large  exchange 
of  official  and  semi-official  civilities  and  entertainments. 


32  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

Unless  the  Englishman  marries  into  a  French  family,  or 
is  able  to  serve  a  Frenchman  in  some  way,  he  rarely  sees 
him  in  his  own  private  and  intimate  surroundings,  but 
must  be  content  with  rather  superficial  and  perfunctory 
entertainment  either  at  a  large  At  Home  or  in  a  restaurant. 
The  Frenchman's  reluctance  to  take  strangers  into  his 
confidence  and  introduce  them  to  the  society  of  his 
wife  and  children  is  based  largely  on  his  instinctive 
rule  to  do  nothing  without  guarantees  and  substantial 
pledges  of  bona-fides. 

The  absence,  to  a  large  extent,  of  advertisements  in 
newspapers  is  due  to  the  knowledge  of  the  tradesman 
that  his  public  is  sceptical  and  cannot  be  reached  in  that 
way,  and,  above  all,  resents  the  assumption  that  it  is  naive 
or  a  "  poire."  The  self-praise  that  is  no  recommendation 
raises  in  the  breast  of  the  ordinary  French  reader  a 
feeling  that  chicanery  or  fraud  is  afoot.  The  louder 
the  "reclame,"  the  more  certain  is  he  that  the  goods 
are  worthless  or  inferior.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why 
"American  methods,"  as  they  have  come  to  be  called,  make 
little  headway  in  the  native  business  world  of  Paris.  The 
French  Thomas  Didymus  must  have  his  doubts  set  at  rest 
by  material  proof.  The  pictorial  poster  has  a  certain 
vogue,  but  here  the  appeal  is  different — the  artistic  side 
predominates,  more  especially  when  the  work  is  signed  by 
some  well-known  draughtsman. 

There  remains  the  question  which  we  set  out  to  discuss  : 
the  comparative  morality  of  two  peoples.  Are  the  French 
more  moral  or  less  moral  than  the  English?  A  recent 
play  by  Brieux,  entitled  "  La  Frangaise,"  castigates  the 
foreigner  who  supposes  that  every  Frenchwoman  is  "  facile," 
ready  to  be  debauched  from  loyalty  to  her  husband.  Though 
there  is  no  greater  libel  on  the  large  mass  of  Frenchwomen, 
the  existence  of  this  assumption  is  not  wholly  the  fault  of 


A  STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       33 

the  foreigner.  The  inhabitants  of  France  take  a  morbid 
pleasure  in  detracting  from  their  own  virtues,  and  in 
painting  themselves  black.  Whereas  the  Englishman  is 
apt  to  assume  moral  qualities  that  he  does  not  possess, 
out  of  a  hypocritical  regard  for  his  neighbour's  opinion, 
the  Frenchman  is  just  as  anxious  to  show  himaelf  "  a  bit  of 
a  dog,"  because  this  is  a  passport  to  popularity  amongst 
certain  of  his  compatriots.  He  boasts  of  his  conquests, 
real  or  imaginary,  with  the  gusto  of  a  sportsman  recount- 
ing his  bag  or  the  fisherman  his  tally  of  fish.  But  this,  of 
course,  is  not  the  case  with  the  best  class  of  man.  Such 
braggart  estimates  in  the  one  field  or  the  other  are  to  be 
taken  with  more  than  a  grain  of  salt;  sometimes  they 
are  wholly  illusory.  The  most  quiet  Frenchman  will, 
under  certain  circumstances,  avow  himself  a  perfect  demon 
for  pleasure  of  a  questionable  sort,  though  appearances,  as 
well  as  his  private  reputation  and  consistently  laborious 
life,  are  evidence  to  the  contrary.  His  habit  to  represent 
himself  worse  than  he  is  and  to  laugh,  as  if  in  sympathy, 
at  the  follies  of  others  is  partly  inspired  by  a  wish  to  vary 
the  monotony  of  the  Realities  by  fiirting  with  the  For- 
bidden. He  is  a  child  playing  with  moral  fire  and  liking 
to  appear  brave.  Yet,  in  his  ordinary  conduct,  he  is, 
probably,  no  worse  a  man  than  the  citizen  of  any  other 
country. 

Elsewhere  I  have  remarked  on  his  coldness ;  his  lack  of 
sickly  sentiment  places  him  in  another  category  from  the 
English.  Who  can  read  the  cheaper  English  fiction  with- 
out coming  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  a  mass  of  our 
countrymen  and  women,  whose  tastes  are  most  rudi- 
mentary, whose  perceptions  of  life  are  nil,  and  whose 
insistence  on  pleasant  endings,  in  defiance  of  all  proba- 
bilities, marks  a  state  of  mind  wanting  in  artistic  sincerity? 
Whilst  there  is  a  number  of  French  publications,  whose 
3 


34  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

coarseness  and  obscenity  arc  matter  for  wonderment  in 
so  cultivated  a  community,  there  are  periodicals  such  as 
the  "  Annales  Litteraires  et  Politiques,"  which  have  a  high 
general  tone  and,  in  the  literary  nature  of  their  contents, 
are  far  beyond  anything  of  the  kind  produced  in  England. 
Even  in  the  worst  of  the  illustrated  hebdomadal  Press, 
there  is  the  excuse  of  wit.  There  is,  happily,  for  the 
country,  no  snippets  public  in  France.  The  height  of 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral  and  the  weight  of  its  roof  gutters  ; 
the  length  of  the  great  North  Road  ;  how  to  grow  cabbages 
on  flannel  aprons  and  other  strange  information  may  be 
quite  harmless,  morally,  but  its  weekly  consumption  by 
the  British  reader  must  surely  contribute  to  the  growing 
insanity. 

The  entertainments  given  in  French  music-halls — par- 
ticularly in  the  Provinces — are  often  unspeakably  gross, 
and  must  be  a  source  of  contamination  to  the  young. 
Here,  again,  there  is  segregation  of  the  sheep  from  the 
goats,  and,  generally  speaking,  the  young  girl,  as  well  as 
her  young  brother,  is  debarred  from  these  spectacles. 
The  freer  life  of  the  English  girl  would  hardly  be  possible 
in  Paris,  to-day,  even  impregnated,  as  it  is,  with  Anglo- 
Saxon  influences  ;  but  there  is  growing  up  a  tendency  to 
provide  a  middle  sort  of  entertainment,  which  is  com- 
parable with  the  fare  provided  by  the  London  music-hall, 
and  contains  nothing  of  offence  to  the  young  person.  In 
course  of  time,  doubtless,  the  unmarried  French  lady  will 
be  as  enfranchised  as  her  married  sister — able  to  move 
without  remark  through  the  streets ;  this  is  already  true 
to  a  certain  extent,  though  demanding  considerable  cir- 
cumspection on  the  part  of  the  lady,  especially  if  she  is 
young  and  attractive.  A  contributory  cause  to  this  wider 
freedom  of  the  sex  is  the  wish  and  necessity  of  unpro- 
vided   females,   or    even    of   the    dowered    girls    of  the 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       35 

Bourgeoisie,  to  earn  their  own  livings  and  carve  out  their 
own  careers. 

The  ordinary  "  piece  a  these,"  as  well  as  the  novels  of  the 
most  fashionable  writers,  gives  the  foreigner  the  impression 
that  chastity  and  fidelity  in  the  domestic  circle  are  the 
rarest  virtues.  It  is  singular  that  scarcely  any6ne  of  talent 
has  arisen  to  paint  the  ordinary  Frenchwoman,  the  woman 
of  the  country :  laborious,  thrifty,  a  model  wife,  concerned 
exclusively  with  the  up-bringing  of  her  family  and  the 
affairs  of  her  husband,  entering  with  zest  into  his  business  life 
and  superintending,  with  minute  care,  the  expenditure  of 
the  household,  as  well  as  every  operation  of  the  counting- 
house.  The  most  capable  woman  in  Europe,  Madame 
Dupont — the  type  of  the  middle-class — is  amongst  the 
most  virtuous.  Nor  has  one  ever  challenged  her  devotion 
to  husband  and  children.  Even  on  the  question  of  divorce, 
there  is  much  to  be  said  for  the  French  point  of  view.  Is 
it  better  to  continue  to  cohabit  when  there  is  no  love,  or 
to  separate  in  an  attempt  to  reconstitute  one's  life? 
French  people,  except  those  who  are  consistent  Catholics, 
adopt  the  latter  view  and  say  (just  as  do  many  Americans) 
it  is  preferable  to  recognize,  frankly,  the  impossibility  of  a 
domestic  situation  and  make  a  fresh  start  instead  of  con- 
tinuing an  arrangement  which  condemns  two  people  to  a 
life  of  subterfuge,  and  provides  the  spectacle  of  a  menage 
disunited  upon  all  essential  points.  The  frequency  of 
divorce  in  France  and  America  so  often  deplored  by 
religious  people  may  be — may  it  not  ? — a  sign,  not  of  lower 
morality  but  of  higher  perceptions.  An  undoubted  reason 
is  the  incxpensiveness  of  the  process  in  both  countries, 
whereas  in  England  the  cost  of  separation,  in  the  full  legal 
sense,  averages  ;^200 — a  figure  quite  impossible  for  the 
lower  middle  class.  The  Church  people,  of  course,  will 
not  admit  of  the  possibility  of  divorce,  marriage  being  a 


36  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

sacrament  in  their  eyes ;  but  Church  leaders  either  in 
France  or  England  have  never  been  distinguished  for  a 
frank  recognition  of  the  difficulties  of  everyday  existence, 
but  have  contented  themselves  with  applying  formulae 
whether  they  represent  a  real  remedy  or  not.  An  English 
bishop,  lecturing  on  the  declining  birth-rate,  tells  the  men 
to  shoulder  parental  responsibilities — on  ;^i  a  week? — and 
the  women  to  abjure  political  aspirations  and  return  to 
their  home  circles.  Such  words  exhibit  a  certain  courage 
in  the  twentieth  century,  but  they  cannot  be  said  to  offer 
a  real  solution  of  a  great  difficulty.  Having  tasted  the 
larger  life  of  political  action  and  the  freedom  that  comes 
from  professional  careers,  in  which  men  have  hitherto  been 
dominant,  women  are  not  likely  to  content  themselves 
with  the  restricted  horizons  of  their  own  homes,  having, 
for  the  sole  occupation  of  their  intellects,  the  varying 
whims  of  their  husband,  or  the  measles  of  their  children. 
Evidently,  a  new  Gospel  is  required,  less  flattering  to 
masculine  complacency. 

French  public  opinion  recognizes,  more  intelligently,  the 
right  of  women  to  emancipation,  and  each  day  new 
triumphs  are  pinned,  like  rosettes,  to  the  Phrygian  cap 
of  Marianne. 

The  moral  aspect  is  inseparable  from  the  question  of 
the  sexes.  Elsewhere  I  attempt  to  prove  that  the 
Frenchman  is  more  carnal  in  his  manner  of  looking 
at  women  ;  the  Englishman  is  more  correct  and  colder 
in  his  appreciation  of  feminine  charms.  The  latter  leaves 
his  wife  largely  to  her  own  society,  whilst  he  betakes 
himself  to  his  club ;  the  former  cannot  imagine  existence 
without  woman — some  woman — though  his  fidelity  to  the 
marriage  bond  is  probably  less  pronounced  than  that  of 
the  Englishman.  Still,  he  is  a  delightful  companion  to 
the  sex,  and  is  too  clever  a  man  to  adopt  that  curious 


A  STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES      37 

attitude  of  superiority  to  which  Englishmen  are  prone  in 
conversation  with  the  "  weaker  vessel."  The  Latin  is  a 
more  imaginative  creature,  more  adaptable,  better  able  to 
place  himself  in  the  position  of  another  ;  the  Englishman, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  more  rigid  in  his  principles,  unbend- 
ing, kind  but  firm,  the  genial  master,  but  th^  undoubted 
master  of  his  own  household.  Judged,  exclusively,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  race,  it  may  be  well  that  a  woman 
should  take  second  place,  occupying  herself  largely  with 
domestic  duties  and  the  care  of  the  household ;  it  is  this 
acknowledged  inferiority  of  the  sex  which  has  contributed, 
in  some  measure,  to  the  dominance  of  Germany  to-day. 
At  the  same  time,  it  has  its  dangers,  this  calm  egoism — 
dangers  which  outweigh  the  advantages  that  seem  to  come 
from  unchallenged  masculine  supremacy.  The  Americans, 
whose  progress  in  the  world  is  made  with  giant  steps, 
treat  their  women  with  greater  gallantry  and  deference 
than  the  English,  and  yet  they  have  not  lost,  apparently, 
their  virtue  of  virility. 

There  are  signs,  however,  of  matriarchy  in  America, 
where,  practically,  the  education  of  the  country  is  in  the 
hands  of  women  ;  there  are  also  signs  of  it  in  France,  but 
here  it  is  complicated  by  the  thousand  shadings  of  an  old 
civilization.  The  great  difference  between  the  French- 
woman and  any  other  is  her  insistence  on  remaining 
feminine.  Nothing  can  be  more  regrettable  from  the  sex 
point  of  view  than  the  strong-minded  creature  who  has 
lost  all  charm  or  attraction  for  man  ;  but  women  with  the 
same  advanced  views  in  France  will  have  retained  that 
secret  of  their  sex  which  is  more  powerful  than  argument 
and  defies  analysis.  It  is  their  magnetism  that  makes 
them  invincible.  The  unruffled  hair  of  the  "  caissiere "  in 
a  French  shop,  the  perfect  manners  of  the  "  patronne "  of 
one   of   the    many   establishments    run    by   women,   are 


38  FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

fascinating  and  puzzling  phenomena  in  the  rise  of  women 
to  economic  independence. 

And  yet  justice  compels  me  to  say  that  the  loss  of 
feminine  charm  in  England,  to  which  I  have  just  alluded, 
is  directly  traceable  to  the  stupidity  of  my  own  sex.  The 
Englishman  is  hard  to  convince  ;  a  charge  of  dynamite  is 
necessary  to  let  in  the  new  idea.  If  proof  were  needed, 
you  have  it  in  the  strange  reluctance  of  political  parties  in 
England  to  face  facts — glaring  facts  as  to  the  necessity  of 
a  continental  army,  and  of  dealing  with  overwhelming 
destitution  by  adopting  a  fiscal  system  in  consonance  with 
universal  experience.  The  party  which  is  nominally  the 
most  advanced  in  England  is  more  conservative  than 
any  other  in  its  adherence  to  an  exploded  political  thesis 
— exploded,  not  because  of  its  inherent  falsity,  but  because 
the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  born  have  radically 
altered.  The  Englishman,  then,  is  a  stubborn  creature, 
and  requires  strong  argument  for  his  brain,  just  as  he 
requires  strong  drink  for  his  palate.  The  Suffragettes 
declare  that  a  woman  must  die  for  the  cause  before  it  is 
really  established ;  in  any  case,  it  is  clear  that  in  no  other 
country  but  England  would  such  strange  and  forceful 
methods  have  been  necessary  to  set  up  a  new  elective 
principle.  Actors  in  the  movement  have  been  affected  by 
the  difficulty  of  their  task,  and  instead  of  relying  upon 
their  own  potent  and  highly  effective  weapons  of  womanly 
persuasion,  have  sought  the  primitive  club  in  the  arsenal 
of  man. 

In  considering  the  economic  position  of  women  in 
France,  we  are  faced  with  this  inconsistency,  that  whilst, 
as  I  show  later — in  a  chapter  dealing  particularly  with  this 
question — Parliamentarians  and  the  elite  of  the  nation  are 
favourable  to  the  Women's  Cause  and  write  eloquent 
articles  in  the   newspapers  in  support  of  it,  there  is  a 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       39 

reluctance  to  pay  the  female  worker  a  living  wage,  or  at 
least  one  equal  to  that  paid  to  man  for  the  same  class  of 
work.  This  is  particularly  true  in  industries  connected 
with  luxuries.  The  work-girls  in  the  dressmakers'  estab- 
lishments are  notoriously  ill  recompensed.  Two  francs 
fifty  centimes,  the  scale  for  the  ordinary  seeing  woman, 
cannot  be  considered  adequate  remuneration  for  a  working 
day  of  from  eight  to  ten  hours.  The  question  of  the  / 
emancipation  of  the  sex  can  never  be  settled  until  women  ^ 
are  paid  in  proportion  to  their  services,  or,  at  least,  on  a 
footing  of  equality  with  man.  Without  going  as  far  as  the 
Socialists,  who  claim  wages  for  the  wife  engaged  in  house- 
hold work,  one  must  feel  that  if  the  sex  is  to  continue  to 
make  progress,  it  must  be  fairly  dealt  with  in  the  labour 
market. 

And  this  question  concerns  conduct.  How  is  a  girl  to 
be  moral,  to  preserve  her  dignity  as  a  woman,  if  honest 
labour  yields  her  an  insufficient  livelihood  ?  The  reply  of 
employers  of  labour,  when  faced  with  this  problem,  is  that 
they  employ  girls  who  are  not  wholly  dependent  upon 
them  and  who  live  with  their  parents  or  are  otherwise 
provided  for.  But  this  is  a  hypocritical  disclaimer.  Only 
those  who  wilfully  disregard  facts  can  fail  to  see  that  the 
semi-prostitution  which  exists  in  Paris,  to  an  extent 
unknown  in  London,  is  directly  due  to  the  failure  of 
young  women  to  obtain  independence  by  honest  labour. 
The  "  ami,"  the  "  amant "  becomes  an  economic  necessity. 

The  subject  is  complicated  by  other  considerations. 
Amongst  the  Latins  the  call  for  intercommunication  and 
companionship  amongst  the  sexes  is  much  more  strongly 
felt  than  amongst  the  Anglo-Saxons.  The  idea  of 
celibacy  is  abhorrent  even  to  the  most  intellectually 
enfranchised  Frenchwoman,  suggesting  a  life  of  incredible 
loneliness  and,  also,  reflecting  upon  her  personal  charm 


40  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

and  her  ability  to  inspire  the  admiration  of  the  opposite 
sex.  She  does  not  understand  the  bachelor  existence  of 
so  many  Englishwomen — an  existence  not  forced  upon 
them  by  the  material  fact  of  being  unable  to  marry,  but 
from  deliberate  choice  and  from  a  wish  to  lead  an  indepen- 
dent life.  The  biggest  "  bas  bleu "  in  France  never 
supposes  her  intellectual  attainments  to  be  any  bar  to 
marriage,  to  a  common  life  with  the  man  she  loves.  Here 
is  a  vast  difference  in  the  sentimental  attitude  of  the  two 
nations.  The  one  can,  apparently,  live  without  the 
companionship  of  the  opposite  sex,  the  other  cannot. 
Such  a  fact  affects  the  mental  outlook  of  the  people,  their 
disposition  towards  life.  Glance  out  of  your  window  at 
the  crowds  in  Paris,  and  you  see  more  couples  than  is 
ever  the  case  in  London.  The  man  who  forms  a  self- 
conscious  escort  to  his  wife  or  sweetheart  or  sisters  in 
London  is  the  exception  ;  women  do  their  shopping  alone. 
Who  ever  heard  of  an  Englishman  offering  to  help  his  wife 
in  the  choice  of  a  hat  or  furbelow  ?  He  would  be  laughed 
at,  as  effeminate.  Even  she  would  despise  him  and  tell 
him  to  play  golf.  But  intimate  co-operation  of  the  sort  is 
frequent  in  France,  where  the  man  is  called  in  to  decide 
nice  points  of  colour,  to  approve  the  correctness  of  line,  to 
testify  to  the  proper  fall  of  a  skirt.  If  he  is  not  more 
effeminate,  the  Frenchman  is  vastly  more  in  touch  with 
the  concerns  of  his  wife ;  he  enters  into  her  little  joys 
and  sorrows,  her  feminine  perplexities,  with  an  acuter 
knowledge  of  the  feminine  mind  and  its  special  require- 
ments than  is  ever  possessed  by  the  sturdier  John  Bull, 
who  has  never  got  out  of  his  head  that  woman  is  slightly 
inferior  and  only  brought  into  the  world  as  an  afterthought 
by  the  Creator. 

Frenchmen  cannot  live  alone ;  there  must  always  be  an 
Eve  in  their  paradise.     The  bachelor  party,  which  is  a 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       41 

common  feature  in  English  social  life,  is  unthinkable  in 
France.  How  can  men  enjoy  themselves  without  women  ? 
Woman  is  their  enjoyment.  It  is  only  the  cold  English- 
man who  wants  to  leave  his  wife  at  home,  whilst  he 
banquets  or  plays  golf.  The  Frenchman's  first  essays  in 
the  royal  and  ancient  game  are  always  accompanied  by  a 
feminine  retinue :  his  wife,  his  aunt,  and  his  mother-in- 
law.  It  is  only  when  he  makes  progress  in  the  game  and 
realizes  the  niceties  of  its  etiquette,  that  he  consents  to 
separate  himself  for  an  hour  or  two  from  feminine  society. 
Unless  he  plays  advanced  golf,  he  will  always  prefer  his 
wife's  society  on  the  links  to  that  of  a  man.  This  is  why 
club  life  is  impossible  in  Paris,  except  club  life  of  a  special 
sort,  involving  baccarat  for  high  stakes,  and  appealing  to 
a  rich  and  leisured  class.  Yet,  here,  compensations  are 
offered  to  the  offended  goddess,  momentarily  abandoned, 
whilst  her  husband  goes  to  the  "  tripot."  She  is  invited 
to  weekly  theatrical  entertainments  at  the  clubs — enter- 
tainments provided  for,  by  the  way,  by  the  card-money 
squandered  by  the  men.  And  the  exhibitions  of  all  sorts 
that  flourish  at  the  clubs — nearly  every  one  has  some 
artistic  mission — are  so  many  occasions  for  the  mingling 
of  the  sexes. 

This  explanation  of  the  perpetual  inclination  of  French- 
men and  women  towards  each  other  is  necessary  when  we 
are  considering  morality.  We,  in  England,  are  apt  to  associ- 
ate purity  with  coldness,  but  the  absence  of  desire  is  no  virtue. 
It  points  to  something  abnormal,  to  a  lack  of  mental  en- 
dowment, to  a  paucity  of  imagination.  The  rich  creative- 
ness  of  the  French  people,  their  glorious  achievements  in 
art,  expressed  in  the  embellishments  of  their  beautiful 
capital,  are  so  many  signs  and  symbols  of  exuberant  sex 
relationship  which  finds  expression  in  plastic  and  pictorial 
forms.     Art  and  life  are  inextricably  bound — there  can  be 


42  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

no  art  without  love,  and  scarcely  a  temperament  without 
the  sense  of  the  fuller  life.  The  people  who  suggest  that 
France  might  now  turn  to  Protestantism  and  possibly  to 
Nonconformity,  since  they  have  broken  with  the  Catholic 
Church,  fail  to  realize  what  a  wide  hiatus  there  is  between 
the  Anglo-Saxon  and  the  Latin,betwecn  the  essentially  Pro- 
testant and  the  essentially  Catholic.  One  might  go  further 
and  show  the  close  relationship  of  religion,  in  its  outward 
forms  and  symbolism,  with  art :  the  art  of  the  early  days 
•of  piety,  when  a  Christian  enthusiasm  showed  itself  in  the 
construction  of  beautiful  and  God-given  cathedrals,  when 
a  Raphael  and  a  Michael  Angelo  transferred  the  face  of 
angels  and  heavenly  cherubs  to  their  canvas.  In  the 
same  way,  there  is  distinctively  a  rich  creative  period  in 
England  when  new  religious  impulses  were  stirring,  and 
a  dull  and  repellent  period,  when  those  impulses  seemed 
to  be  disappearing,  leaving  only  a  deposit  of  religious  in- 
tolerance and  sectarian  bitterness.  Art  and  a  narrow 
nature  cannot  go  together :  the  Puritan  horror  of  art  is 
proof  of  it.  Hence,  bound  up  in  the  particular  tempera- 
ment of  the  French,  their  regard  for  sex,  and  their  ex- 
aggerated worship  of  the  human  form  is  their  pre-eminence 
in  artistic  matters. 

This  pre-eminence,  however,  seems  challenged  at  the 
present  time  by  England  and  Germany,  if  not,  to  some 
extent,  by  America.  To  the  growing  materialism,  of 
which  I  treat  in  the  pages  of  this  book,  may  be  due  the 
decline  in  those  qualities  in  the  French,  which  made  them 
produce  wonderful  things,  and  the  same  causes,  which 
contribute  to  the  social  and  political  stagnation,  may,  and 
undoubtedly  do,  operate  unfavourably  upon  art,  exalting 
the  clever  and  mechanical  above  true  inspiration. 

The  unspiritual  conception  of  women,  which  belongs  to 
the  Frenchman's  reading  of  sexual  difference,  sometimes 


A  STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES      43 

grates  upon  the  sensitiveness  of  colder  northern  minds. 
Yet,  familiarity  with  the  other  sex  protects  from  those 
abysses  into  which  the  rash  and  inexperienced  feet  of  the 
Englishman  may  lead  him.  By  dint  of  practice,  the 
Frenchman  can  walk  with  surer  steps  upon  the  precipices 
of  a  passion  which  tends  to  overwhelm  the  Englishman. 
The  melting  of  snows  upon  the  mountain  top  causes  a 
torrent  which  sweeps  away  every  obstacle  in  its  path. 
Obviously,  the  inner  life  of  the  Englishman,  who  can  exist 
without  feeling  any  urgent  necessity  for  female  companion- 
ship, must  differ  vastly  from  that  of  the  Frenchman  who, 
at  the  dawn  of  manhood,  provides  himself  with  female 
society.  Some  idea  of  the  conception  of  the  two  nations 
on  delicate  matters  of  this  sort  may  be  gathered  from 
reading  the  pages  of  "Sapho,"  which  was  certainly  penned 
by  Alphonse  Daudet  with  no  idea  that  he  was  writing  an 
improper  book.  "  A  mes  fils  quand  ils  auront  vingt  ans." 
Evidently  the  author,  when  he  wrote  that  dedication,  felt 
that  the  moral  of  the  book  would  be  useful  to  every  young 
man.  An  English  parent  would  have  preferred  that  his 
children  should  have  lived  in  ignorance  of  such  questions 
until,  at  least,  much  later  in  life. 

From  conversation  at  table,  from  the  fact  that  he  is  always 
with  his  parents  and  overhears  their  daring  discussion  of 
all  topics,  rarely  checked  because  of  his  presence,  the 
French  boy  early  becomes  acquainted  with  those  problems 
of  life — and  provides  his  own  precocious  solution  of  them 
— upon  which  blue-eyed  English  children  look  with  un- 
seeing innocence.  The  fact  that  so  few  doors  are  marked 
"  Private  "  in  France  makes  social  intercourse  alluring  and 
stimulating,  awakens  trains  of  thought  and  forces  the 
talent ;  at  the  same  time  this  very  openness  of  discussion, 
this  tendency  to  "  tout  dire,"  is  dangerous  to  the  unprepared. 
Virgin   soil,   if    it   produces   richer  fruits,    also   produces 


44  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

ranker    growths    than    land     which   has    been    tilled    a 
thousand  years. 

Business  ethics  cannot  be  dissociated  from  any  dis- 
cussion of  moral  behaviour.  Have  the  French  a  less  nice 
sense  of  honour  and  strict  honesty  when  they  are  dealing 
with  affairs,  with  questions  that  involve  money  interests  ? 
Comparisons  are  odious ;  a  too  pronounced  desire  to 
probe  may  become  invidious  ;  at  the  same  time,  truth 
constrains  me  to  say  that  the  mass  of  French  business 
people,  whilst  perfectly  honourable  in  keeping  engage- 
ments— the  French  Government  through  all  its  vicissitudes 
has  always  fulfilled  its  obligations — are,  at  the  same  time, 
less  mindful  of  their  word  than  the  Englishman.  It  used 
to  be  said  that  an  Englishman's  word  was  as  good  as  his 
bond.  Though  I  fear  there  is  some  deterioration  from 
this  high  standard,  it  is  still  apparent  to  all  who  know 
the  two  nations  well  that  the  Englishman  will  abide  by 
an  unlucky  bargain  when  he  has  given  his  word,  whereas 
the  Frenchman  is  apt  to  revise  his  opinion  on  the  morrow 
— if  his  agreement  has  not  been  put  into  writing.  In  the 
past,  before  the  days  of  the  Entente  Cordiale,  English 
Ambassadors  in  Paris  had  constant  difficulty  in  settling 
the  preliminaries  of  any  diplomatic  instrument,  for  the 
reason  that  the  Foreign  Minister  of  the  day  was  apt  on 
the  morrow  to  go  back  upon  his  expressed  intention  of 
the  day  before.  To  the  French  mind,  this  is  not  dis- 
honesty or  want  of  strict  honour ;  it  is  merely  a  business 
habit  which  must  be  understood  as  such.  The  English- 
man is  reluctant  to  give  his  word  even  when  it  means 
mere  politeness.  He  hesitates  long  before  he  makes  a 
promise ;  but  when  he  has  made  it,  he  hesitates  longer 
before  he  breaks  it.  With  a  Frenchman,  to  speak  is  as 
easy  as  to  breathe;  he  is  naturally  expansive  when  discuss- 
ing a  business  affair — it  is  his  method  of  arguing  it  out,  of 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       45 

getting  all  round  it.  But  unless  he  gives  his  signature,  his 
verbal  undertakings  amount  to  very  little.  He  does  not 
mean  to  convey  a  wrong  impression  ;  the  habit  is  con- 
stitutional, it  springs  from  a  chronic  inability  to  make  up 
his  mind.  A  famous  Frenchman  said  recently,  in  reference 
to  his  retirement  from  a  high  public  office :  "  Whatever 
decision  I  take,  I  know  I  shall  regret  it  on  the  morrow." 
That  is  characteristic  of  the  national  habit ;  it  is  a  mental 
bias  that  has  to  be  accepted  by  those  who  wish  to  do 
business  in  France. 

Again,  there  is  an  unfortunate  tendency,  especially 
among  the  smaller  "  commer9ants,"  to  cheat  the  foreigner, 
to  get  as  much  as  possible  out  of  him.  One  is  immediately 
struck  with  that  on  arriving  in  France.  There  are  two 
prices  in  the  shops :  one  for  the  English  and  Americans, 
the  other  for  other  people.  The  first  figure  is  twice  as 
high  as  the  second.  The  foreigner  is  often  annoyed  by 
attempts  to  get  the  better  of  him,  exhibited  by  waiters, 
"cochers"  and  kiosk  keepers,  who  charge  him  double, 
give  him  bad  money,  or  render  incorrect  change.  One 
likes  to  think  that  these  things  do  not  happen  in  England ; 
they  are  less  general,  but  I  am  afraid  they  do  happen. 
A  French  lady,  knowing  no  English,  told  me  that  recently 
she  took  a  cab  from  Charing  Cross  to  an  address  at  Earl's 
Court — a  fare  of  half-a-crown.  She  gave  the  cabman  a 
sovereign  and  awaited  the  change,  explaining  what  she 
wanted  by  signs.  The  cabby  gave  a  sharp  look  at  his 
fare,  whipped  up  his  horse,  and  disappeared  round  the 
corner.  A  distinguished  Japanese,  coming  to  London 
for  the  first  time  as  a  poor  lad,  bought  bread  at  a  baker's 
shop  in  the  East  End,  near  the  Docks,  and  tendered  a 
sovereign.  The  tradesman  kept  the  sovereign  and  hustled 
the  lad  out  of  doors  with  his  penny  loaf. 

I  have  said  that  the  Frenchman  delights  in  painting 


46  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

himself  blacker  than  he  is.  He  takes  a  rhetorical  interest 
in  being  perverse.  His  attitude  may  be  compared  with 
the  Socratian  method  of  asking  questions,  not  so  much 
to  hear  the  answer  as  to  debate  the  subject  in  one's  own 
mind.  The  French  Intellectual  is  always  a  rhetorician, 
setting  up  academic  ninepins  to  knock  them  down.  He 
loves  the  general  principles,  whereas  your  more  positive 
Englishman  has  "  no  use  "  for  them.  He  wants  facts  and 
a  concrete  instance,  whilst  the  Latin  mind  tends  towards 
the  general  theory :  he  must  state  a  case  and  argue  about 
it.  This  fondness  for  discussion,  this  perpetual  eagerness 
for  analysis,  this  desire  to  probe  things  to  the  bottom,  to 
carry  a  matter  to  its  logical  conclusions  make  conversation 
extraordinarily  interesting  and  life  in  France  a  perpetual 
feast  to  the  intellectually  alert.  At  the  same  time  it  has 
its  dangers,  particularly  to  the  not  over-bright  person  who 
takes  everything  "  au  pied  de  la  lettre,"  and  imagines  that 
he  is  in  the  midst  of  the  most  disquieting  symptoms  of 
decadence. 

The  mocking  spirit  is  very  near  in  any  Frenchman's 
conversation.  He  indulges  in  "  persiflage,"  in  the  bandy- 
ing of  words,  in  the  examination  of  all  aspects  of  a 
question  with  the  relish  and  enthusiasm  with  which  the 
young  generation  in  England  gives  itself  to  sport.  To 
him  it  is  a  needed  exercise  to  get  rid  of  his  superfluous 
energy  :  he  finds  new  strength  and  refreshment  in  these 
passages  of  arms,  in  these  conflicts  with  words.  Thus,  he 
gives  utterance  to  opinions  which  are  not  really  his,  merely 
for  the  pleasure  of  shocking,  to  hear  the  remonstrance,  the 
excited  disclaimer.  This  acts  as  a  stimulus  to  his  own 
brain ;  he  finds  nothing  more  enjoyable.  The  mental 
habit  explains  a  great  deal,  explains  much  in  books  and 
plays  that  grieves  the  superficial  observer  of  the  French. 
"What?     Is   it   possible   that   a   people   can   hold   such 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       47 

theories  and  be  accounted  respectable,  or  even  sane  ? " 
The  critic  fails  to  observe  the  undercurrent  of  satire  or 
the  pure  mischief  of  the  writer,  who  is  out  to  relieve  his 
summer  energy  with  a  little  idol-smashing. 

Intellectual  iconoclasts  abound  in  France.  They  are 
ever  busy  with  axe  and  hammer  destroying  the  cherished 
images  of  the  past;  and  the  greatest  of  them  all  was 
Voltaire,  who  died,  miserably,  as  we  know,  watched  over, 
as  a  prisoner  might  be,  by  two  avaricious  relatives,  who 
were  afraid  that  his  fortune  should  escape  them  and  were 
determined  that  his  person  should  not.  Here  you  have 
the  tragedy  of  a  great  "  moqueur,"  the  man  who  made 
everything  the  butt  of  his  ridicule,  who  dulled  the  bright 
surface  of  religion,  of  the  kingly  power,  of  the  things  that 
men  had  held  sacred.  He  is  the  great  Sower,  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Revolution,  and  yet  he  dies  like  this,  on  his 
own  Quai  Voltaire,  like  a  rat  caught  in  the  trap  of  the 
most  demoralizing  passion  of  man.  In  Zola's  "La  Terre'* 
we  have  a  terrible  picture  of  the  peasant  "  grippe-sou,"  who 
will  squeeze  out  life  and  love  for  the  sake  of  money.  And 
yet  one  must  not  lose  sight  of  his  almost  sublime  passion 
for  the  rich  brown  soil,  which  is  to  him  Fecund  Nature. 
He  will  hold  and  keep  his  land  against  all  comers,  and  it 
is  this  determination  which  gives  him  a  savage  courage  to 
labour  the  year  through.  Avarice,  however,  is  the  curse 
from  which  the  French,  with  all  their  extraordinary  in- 
tellectual resources,  their  brilliance  of  mind  and  real 
achievements  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  are  unable  to 
escape.  It  colours  many  of  their  actions,  otherwise 
inconceivable.  And  yet,  side  by  side  with  the  unlovely  ^^^ 
miser,  the  economizer  at  all  costs,  is  a  lower  middle 
class  distinguished  for  much  kindness  of  heart,  much 
comprehension  of  the  neighbour's  position,  much  practical 
sympathy. 


48  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

Then,  again,  where  is  the  people  whose  recognition  of 
talent,  unaccompanied  by  worldly  wealth,  is  more  gener- 
ous ?  "  My  respect  rises  with  every  step  I  mount,"  said  a 
famous  Frenchman  when  visiting  Guizot,  then  a  Minister 
of  France,  and  inhabiting  a  fifth  floor.  A  distinguished 
French  Admiral  of  European  reputation  lives  as  near  the 
roof  as  that,  and  with  an  entire  absence  of  ostentation. 
Simplicity  and  elegant  poverty  often  accompany  real 
intellectual  distinction  in  this  country.  "  I  have  to  leave 
England  to  find  my  self-respect"  would  never  have  been 
uttered  by  a  French  scientist ;  he  is  always  respected. 

So,  you  see,  there  is  a  complexity  in  the  French  charac- 
ter that  is  not  easily  defined.  I  think  you  must  not  divorce 
it  from  any  consideration  of  French  morals.  The  French- 
man is  a  complicated  creature  and  has  a  complicated 
moral  system.  He  thinks  it  wrong  or,  at  least,  useless  to 
flirt.  The  "  demi-vierge  "  or  "  allumeuse,"  not  unknown  in 
English  latitudes,  is  castigated  by  Marcel  Prevost,  who 
expressed  the  judgment  of  his  countrymen  when  he  wrote 
his  famous  novel.  Honest  Frenchwomen  do  not  play  with 
the  passions.  They  are  either  swept  off  their  feet  by  a 
sudden  great  love  or  they  deliberately  enter  upon  a  certain 
course  from  want  of  principle  or  because  it  provides  an 
easy  life.  They  do  not  understand  the  point  of  view  of 
the  woman  who  sets  out  to  make  conquests,  to  break  men's 
hearts,  merely  to  while  away  a  summer's  day.  When  they 
enter  upon  the  field  of  amatory  experience,  they  are  either 
blinded  to  the  results  by  an  overwhelming  passion  or  their 
eyes  are  open,  foreseeing  the  end  and  counting  the  cost.  It 
is  from  the  lack  of  comprehension  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
view  that  Frenchwomen  often  refuse  to  credit  the  English 
or  American  woman  with  virtue,  and,  indeed,  accuse  her  of 
a  cold  hypocrisy  because  her  evident  object  is  to  enjoy 
herself  to  the  utmost  in  masculine  society,  always  with  the 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       49 

determination  to  save  herself  at  the  last  ditch.  Such  an 
attitude  of  final  reservation  is  not  possible  in  the  case  of  a 
Frenchwoman,  who,  however,  is  prepared  to  go  to  lengths 
undreamed  of  by  Englishwomen,  when  her  affections  are 
really  engaged.  The  women  who  have  lovers,  however, 
the  women  of  the  novels  and  the  plays,  are  those  of  a 
certain  set  in  large  towns  and  are  not  typical  in  any  way 
of  provincial  France.  The  ordinary  Frenchwoman  should 
be  defended  from  literary  calumny.  In  the  desire  to  give 
us  life  with  a  big  L,  authors  often  submit  travesties  of  the 
truth  and  the  grossest  libel  upon  their  countrywomen. 

Costume,  though  it  is  not  generally  recognized,  plays  its 
part  in  the  moral  Cosmos.  Paris  fashions  are  alluring, 
"  provocateur,"  troubling  in  the  "  line,"  the  accentuation  of 
the  silhouette.  An  undefined  challenge  is  thrown  down  by 
the  Parisian  "  elegante."  You  never  find  the  same  sensa- 
tional appeal  in  Englishwomen's  clothes.  The  absence  may 
mark  a  greater  modesty — at  any  rate,  a  less  daring  attempt 
to  catch  the  eye.  Marcel  Prevost,  in  one  of  his  delightful 
articles,  declares  that  the  object  of  feminine  garb  is  to 
awaken  the  interest  of  distrait  man.  The  male  is  an 
absent-minded  beggar  who,  absorbed  in  his  own  egotistical 
ambitions,  is  unmindful  of  the  female  and  her  embellish- 
ments, unless  his  eye  be  attracted  thereunto  by  the  "  misf 
en  scene,"  the  constant  change  of  frame.  There  is,  thus,  a 
closer  relationship  between  morality  and  clothes  than  is 
indicated  by  the  circumstance  that  in  the  days  of  inno- 
cence and  purity  our  first  parents  wandered  unclothed  in 
Eden. 

French  fashions  are  seductive  because  they  heighten 
women's  charms.  The  Englishwoman's  large  indifference 
to  fashion — the  little  time  she  spends  before  the  mirror, 
her  absence  of  coquetry  —  comes  possibly  from  a  moral 
objection  to  female  vanity  and  from  a  desire  to  make  her 
4 


50  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

appeal  to  man  intellectual — a  question,  perhaps,  of  mental 
attachment,  or,  at  least,  a  wholesome  physical  attraction 
depending  in  no  wise  upon  arts  and  wiles  and  meretricious 
aids.  But  the  Frenchwoman  is  differently  constituted.  She 
thinks  in  clothes,  and  passes  long  hours  in  the  confection 
of  her  toilette.  The  result,  certainly,  is  something  that 
puts  to  blush  the  Englishwoman's  efforts  in  the  same 
direction.  It  is  not  the  clothes  she  wears,  but  the  manner 
of  her  wearing  them,  that  is  so  striking,  so  characteristic, 
so  full  of  message  to  the  male. 

Clothes,  then,  play  a  large  part  in  this  question  of  rela- 
tive morality.  I  do  not  say  that  the  Frenchwoman  is  less 
moral  than  the  English  because  she  spends  more  time  on 
the  arrangement  of  her  toilette,  but  I  say  that,  rendering 
herself  more  attractive,  she  exposes  herself  to  a  greater 
danger;  she  heightens  the  stimulus  with  consequences  that 
may  threaten  her  peace  of  mind,  whilst,  at  the  same  time, 
they  will  flatter  her  desire  for  conquest. 

Herein  appears  another  aspect  of  the  question.  Homage 
to  women  of  the  two  nations  is  differently  expressed.  To 
an  Englishwoman  of  respectable  upbringing  there  is  some- 
thing frightening  in  being  followed  in  the  street ;  she  has 
a  horror  of  the  overture.  It  seems  to  her  to  show  a  lack 
of  respect,  to  place  her  on  a  level  with  the  "  facile,"  the  too 
easily  approached.  It  is  an  insult  to  her  womanly  pride, 
a  detraction  from  her  virtue.  Not  so  the  Frenchwoman. 
Homage  is  homage,  and,  though  she  will  equally  repel  the 
stranger,  she  will  not  feel  her  "  amour  propre "  injured 
thereby ;  on  the  contrary,  she  will  experience  a  secret  glow 
of  pleasure  at  the  thought  that  her  charms  have  been  suffi- 
cient to  evoke  this  unsolicited  tribute  of  the  street.  You 
observe  the  point  of  view ;  how  different  it  is.  It  tinges 
everything.  It  is  the  arbitrator  in  this  great  question  of 
clothes.    Englishwomen  dress  because  they  must,  with  just 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE   MORALITIES       51 

a  vague  impression  that  this  or  that  colour,  this  or  that 
hat  will  please  the  male  upon  whom  their  happiness  in  life 
partially  depends.  The  Frenchwoman  makes  no  secret 
of  her  concern  when  her  best  sartorial  efforts  are  unap- 
preciated by  her  companion  in  life.  To  her,  admiration 
is  as  essential  to  existence  as  breath  in  the  nostril,  as 
sunshine  to  the  flower. 

Then  there  is  the  morality  of  politics.  In  her  international 
relations,  France  has  always  been  singularly  high-minded. 
Governments  may  succeed  one  another,  dynasties  fall  and 
be  replaced  by  other  regimes,  but  the  French  national 
honour  is  unassailable.  And  France  shows  courage,  too. 
Take,  if  you  will,  the  rehabilitation  of  Dreyfus.  Here  was 
a  man  whom  half  the  country  still  believed  to  be  guilty  ;  but 
Parliament  resolved  to  annul  his  condemnation,  to  restore 
technically  his  good  name,  and  to  reinstate  him  in  the 
army.  And  it  had  the  courage  of  its  convictions.  French- 
men usually  have ;  they  are  ready,  in  the  habitual  phrase, 
to  stand  behind  a  barricade  in  defence  of  their  principles. 
And  so  public  honour  was  done  the  man  who  had  been 
publicly  dishonoured,  whose  hair  had  been  whitened  by  a 
horrible  accusation  and  by  false  imprisonment.  And  yet, 
considered  individually,  the  French  deputy  is  not  conspicu- 
ous for  high  moral  courage  or  for  a  deep  sense  of  respons- 
ibility. Mingle  with  his  kind  in  the  Salle  des  Pas  Perdus, 
or  in  the  corridors  of  the  Chamber,  and  you  will  hear 
many  expressions  and  see  many  significant  smiles  in  the 
haze  of  cigarette  smoke,  which  suggest  that  the  elect  of 
the  people  does  not  always  take  his  duties  to  his  country 
very  seriously.  He  is  a  sort  of  local  servant,  sworn  and 
well-paid,  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  electorate.  It 
was  this  indifference  to  the  public  weal — particularly 
illustrated  in  the  growth  of  the  "  fonctionnaire " — which 
inspired  the  cry  for  Proportional  Representation  and  led 


52  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

to  the  substitution  of  the  "  scrutin  de  liste  "  for  the  "  scrutin 
d'arrondissement."  It  was  the  feeling  that  perhaps  loftier 
motives  would  be  instilled  into  the  breast  of  the  people's 
representative  if  his  election  depended  upon  departmental 
influences  rather  than  upon  the  "esprit  du  clocher  "  or 
parochial  caucus.  Though  as  member  of  the  family  of 
nations  France  is  nearly  irreproachable,  I  think  that,  man 
for  man,  her  members  of  Parliament  will  not  compare  in 
political  morality  with  their  British  confreres  at  West- 
minster. 

The  deputy  has  his  peculiar  conception  of  the  role.  He 
is  there,  first  and  foremost,  to  serve  the  people  who  sent 
him  to  the  place ;  he  must  urge  the  local  interest  above 
the  patriotic  interest,  and  he  often  does,  with  the  result 
that  budgets  grow  larger  and  larger,  the  National  Debt 
increases  by  leaps  and  bounds  and  the  area  of  political 
corruption  spreads.  In  the  same  way,  the  newspaper 
proprietor  in  France  regards  every  corner  of  his  property 
as  a  gold  mine,  in  which  no  possible  piece  of  quartz  is 
to  be  omitted  from  the  crushing  machine.  Thus,  those 
parts  of  a  newspaper  which  in  England  are  regarded  as 
disinterested — at  least  it  was  so  until  quite  recently — the 
financial  and  the  editorial  columns,  are  delivered  over 
frankly  to  a  money-making  speculation.  A  most  fruitful 
source  of  publicity  in  a  French  journal  is  the  Stock 
Exchange  information  which,  conveyed  in  the  form  of 
notes  to  the  investor,  is  so  much  paid  "  reclame  "  for  such 
and  such  a  company  or  trading  corporation.  Many  of  the 
"  critiques  "  of  the  smaller  theatres  are  also  paid  for.  The 
French  are  perfectly  sensible  of  the  value  of  good  criticism 
and  enjoy  it,  but  they  think  that  the  puff  "  compte  rendu  " 
of  an  obviously  second-class  entertainment  does  no  harm 
to  anybody.  The  public  must  know  that  it  is  not  "  serious," 
they  say.     The  argument  of  the  newspaper  proprietor  is : 


A   STUDY   IN   COMPARATIVE  MORALITIES       53 

"  Why  should  I  give  an  advertisement  for  nothing  ?  This 
sort  of  show  is  not  art,  but  mere  money-making."  Again, 
a  new  conception  of  the  role  of  the  newspaper — another 
point  in  morality. 

What,  then,  is  the  general  result  of  these  reflections? 
Are  the  French  worse,  morally,  than  the  English  ?  Do 
they  have  a  less  lofty  standard  of  right  and  wrong  ?  Are 
they  less  set  upon  perfection  in  human  conduct?  Are 
they  less  inspired  by  a  sense  of  responsibility  towards  their 
fellow-men,  duty  towards  their  God?  These  are  questions 
difficult  to  answer — again  because  of  the  point  of  view  and 
because  of  the  difficulty  of  arriving  at  conclusions.  Most 
people  acquainted  with  France  will  say  that  the  code  of 
personal  honour  is  less  high  to-day  than  it  was  thirty  years 
ago,  but  is  it  not  true  of  other  nations?  These  things  can 
only  be  established  after  long  and  exhaustive  inquiry — 
if  they  can  ever  be  established.  I  think  it  may  be  said 
that  whilst  the  individual  Frenchman  is  just  as  mindful  of 
his  honour  as  the  inhabitant  of  any  other  country  and  as 
the  British,  he  displays  symptoms  in  his  mental  make-up 
— and  signs  of  it  are  everywhere  in  the  nation — that  are 
dangerous  and  point  to  deterioration,  rapid  and  sure,  un- 
less checked  by  wholesome  reaction.  My  principal  object, 
however,  in  this  chapter  was  not  to  state  invidiously  that 
this  was  moral  and  the  other  immoral,  but  rather  to  let 
the  reader  see  that  there  are  two  points  of  view  even  in  the 
moral  code  and  that  the  Frenchman  holds  to  one  and  the 
Englishman  to  another.  If  I  have  succeeded  in  doing  that, 
I  have  done  a  partial  justice  to  the  French  people,  whose 
apparent  levities  and  inconsistencies  are  so  little  understood 
by  the  outsider. 


CHAPTER   III 
TENDENCIES    IN    LITERATURE  AND   ART 

EACH  year  the  Salons  of  the  Artistes  Frangais 
and  Societe  des  Beaux  Arts  fill  the  spacious 
building  of  the  Grand  Palais.  The  exhibition 
is  tremendous.  There  is  something  brain-whirling  in  the 
contemplation  of  this  enormous  output  of  pigment,  this 
colossal  annual  effort  towards  the  coloured  presentation 
of  the  age.  Five  thousand  works  of  art  appear  in  the 
"  official "  Salon,  as  the  exhibition  of  the  Artistes  Fran^ais 
is  called,  and  about  half  that  number  in  the  rival  society- 
founded  by  Meissonier  some  twenty  years  ago.  As  one 
walks  through  these  endless  galleries  one  is  oppressed  by 
the  feeling  of  so  much  labour,  so  much  thought,  so  many 
ambitions,  expended  upon  expressing  the  personality  and 
point  of  view  in  terms  of  paint.  What  does  it  all  amount 
to  ?  What  is  the  upshot  of  it  all  ?  Even  to  paint  badly, 
to  paint  without  inspiration,  as  a  dull  and  deadly  exercise 
of  the  hand — a  mere  experiment  in  technique,  with  no 
real  virtuosity — is  a  difficult  performance,  and  there  are 
hundreds,  even  thousands,  of  young  people  whose  work 
may  be  thus  characterized  :  work  without  genius,  laborious 
sometimes,  but  lacking  all  spark  of  the  sacred  fire.  They 
are  the  products  of  the  innumerable  schools  and  ateliers 
which  flourish  in  Paris  as  in  Athens  of  old.  They  repre- 
sent that  tendency  towards  the  pictorial  and  plastic  which 
is  the  characteristic  of  to-day.     It  is  a  sign,  no  doubt,  of 

54 


TENDENCIES   IN   LITERATURE   AND   ART        55 

decadence  that  the  rising  generation  should  expend  so 
much  effort  on  canvas  and  in  stone  and  so  little  in  those 
intellectual  directions  that  make  no  appeal  to  the  senses. 
It  is  a  sign,  doubtless,  of  the  pagan  spirit  that  so  many 
precious  hours  are  given  to  the  cultivation  of  the  Muses  of 
painting,  of  sculpture,  and  of  music — the  pictorial  arts  and 
the  art  of  sound — instead  of  being  consecrated  to  science 
and  literature  of  the  higher  sort.  Paris,  indeed,  is  the 
pagan  city,  as  witness  its  sculpture.  Part  of  the  vogue  of 
the  fashionable  lecturer  of  to-day  is  to  be  attributed  to  the 
desire  of  people  to  instruct  themselves  without  trouble, 
to  tread  the  path  of  knowledge  as  a  smooth  and  bright 
highway — no  longer  the  laborious,  rugged  ascent  of  a  bare, 
forbidding  mountain. 

So  we  have  this  monstrous  exhibition  of  mediocrity  in 
those  two  Salons  housed  in  that  grandiose  vestige  of  the 
Great  Exhibition  of  1900.  There  is,  certainly,  a  great 
lack  of  freshness,  of  real  talent  and  originality  in  much  of 
this  display.  Low  as  the  British  Academy  may  have 
sunk  in  the  estimation  of  the  artistic,  it  can  scarcely  be 
more  banal,  more  uninspiring  than  this  exhibition  by  the 
Seine.  The  old  pillars  of  French  art  are  there,  yearly 
represented  by  their  tedious  pictures — the  instructors  of 
the  young  painters — but  there  is  a  commonplace  excellence, 
a  placid  rotundity  and  smoothness  about  their  work,  which 
is  irritating  because  featureless,  and  pleasureless  because 
deadly  monotonous.  This  man,  you  may  be  sure,  will 
choose  for  ever  classical  subjects :  nymphs  bathing  in  the 
lake,  dryads  hiding  behind  trees,  gods  and  goddesses 
sheltering  in  remote  forests  of  antiquity.  This  other 
master  will  assuredly  paint  landscapes  of  a  languorous 
sort ;  eternal  moors  with  eternal  heather  in  eternal  bloom  ; 
another  will  persist  in  military  pictures,  in  compositions  of 
a   clever   sort,   well-arranged   but   strangely  lifeless;  yet 


56         FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

another  will  turn  his  wooden  talents  to  depict  the  inner 
scenes  of  a  dressmaking  establishment — fit  subject  for  his 
palette.  A  portraitist  adopts  as  sign  and  symbol  of 
success  the  society  woman.  Strange  and  lissom  she  is, 
will-o'-the-wisp-like  and  looking  most  unearthly,  fiendish 
with  a  sort  of  hot  conservatory  wickedness — a  marvellous 
piece  of  painting,  but,  nevertheless,  unreal  and  meretricious. 
His  rival  in  the  trade  of  advertising  snobs  will  precipitate 
portraits  of  celebrities  :  a  duchess  thinly  veiled  as  X  or  Y, 
an  American  millionairess,  a  bishop  much  in  request  in 
Parisian  drawing-rooms,  a  soldier  or  a  diplomat,  x^nd 
they  will  wear  the  same  fixed  smile  and  be  as  impeccably 
dressed  as  they  are  impeccably  painted.  It  is  all  im- 
peccable, but  it  is  not  Progressive  Art.  There  is  much  to 
weary  and  precious  little  to  stimulate  in  this  terrible  round 
of  pictures,  these  miles  of  paintings  through  endless  corri- 
dors. Now  and  again  one  is  tempted  to  wonder  why  a 
picture  is  there,  it  is  so  good,  so  striking.  One  looks  at  the 
catalogue :  an  Anglo-Saxon  name,  or,  perhaps,  a  Russian. 

Americans  when  they  come  to  Paris  often  succeed  in 
doing  better  than  their  teachers  by  reason  of  their  virility 
and  enthusiasm.  They  succeed  because  of  much  trying. 
And  there  is  reason  to  think  that  America  will  be  one  of 
the  great  art  lands  of  the  future;  first,  because  so  many 
masterpieces  are  going  there,  so  many  gems  from 
European  galleries  bought  by  the  rich  connoisseur ;  and 
secondly,  because  of  the  unflinching  zeal  and  devotion 
shown  by  the  American  student  in  Europe  when  he  comes 
to  study  the  galleries  or  to  settle,  permanently,  in  such  an 
art  centre  as  Paris  or  Munich. 

Paris  has  been  shaken,  somewhat,  in  her  proud  confidence 
of  being  the  art  centre  of  the  world,  by  the  discovery  that 
German  students  are  evolving  new  formulae  in  art,  new 
expressions  in  architecture  and  design,  if  not  in  painting 


TENDENCIES   IN  LITERATURE   AND   ART        57 

itself.  But,  to  return  to  Paris,  it  would  not  be  fair,  of  course, 
to  suppose  that  there  is  no  life  or  movement  in  French  art 
because  of  the  want  of  it  in  the  official  and  "officieux" 
salons,  because  of  the  deadness  of  many  of  the  well-known 
painters.  But  the  really  new  and  living  and  sincere,  as 
opposed  to  the  mechanical  and  "pot-boiler,"  are  to  be 
found  in  the  smaller  exhibitions  rather  than  in  those  which 
receive  the  visit  of  the  President  of  the  Republic. 

People  who  do  not  like  Republics,  declare  that  they 
necessarily  entail  mediocrity,  that  you  cannot  expect  any 
real  patronage  of  art  or  letters,  since  such  things  demand 
taste  and  aristocratic  appreciation,  which  are  to  be  found 
in  kings  and  not  in  presidents.  They  will  tell  you  that 
neither  art  nor  religion  can  flourish  in  a  Republic.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  Bourgeois  Presidents  are  not,  probably, 
the  most  discerning  in  the  arts,  and  their  opinion  on  the 
pictures  of  the  day  is,  as  a  rule,  only  worth  remembering  as  a 
joke  upon  the  impossibility  of  officialdom  and  talent.  In 
these  lesser  exhibitions,  you  will  often  find  disquieting 
originality — symptoms  of  a  desire  to  express  the  in- 
expressible, coupled  with  a  wanton  wish,  perhaps,  to 
"epater  la  bourgeoisie."  But  I  admit  a  liking  for  the 
strange  eruption  of  the  Autumn  Salon.  In  the  same 
apartments  of  the  Grand  Palais,  each  winter,  there  is  hung 
a  collection  of  pictures  so  unusual  that  the  Parisians,  in  the 
earlier  years,  had  every  reason  for  regarding  them  as  jokes 
upon  the  public.  Houses  tortured  and  twisted  into 
mottled  mushrooms ;  trees  that  have  the  look  of  human 
beings,  and  human  beings  of  trees  :  the  strangest  mixture 
that  childish  brains  devised.  Is  it  a  nightmare,  the  output 
of  a  disordered  mind  ?  a  hungry  cry  for  bread,  or  a  daring 
bid  for  notoriety?  One  does  not  know.  These  young 
artists  hunger,  literally,  no  doubt;  they  must  strike  the 
public  eye  or  they  are  lost — with  no  hope  of  paying  the 


58  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

rent.  And  so  they  paint  these  strange  pictures :  these 
crude  examples  of  a  naive  soul,  childish  outbursts  in  which 
reds  and  greens  and  purples  are  all  mixed  as  if  the  purpose 
were  some  monstrous  salad  to  make  the  common  stomach  ill. 
They  feed  on  noxious  diet  these  young  people,  and  turn 
from  wholesome  food. 

The  high  priest  of  this  new  school  is  Henri  Matisse, 
one  of  the  most  disquieting  of  them  all.  He  paints  red  hob- 
goblins on  a  ground  of  green,  dancing  some  strange  exotic 
round.  And  yet  that  same  painter  can  contrive  to  give  to 
a  bunch  of  flowers  such  sensation  of  life  that  it  seems  to 
grow,  and  you  pass  near  to  inhale  the  perfume,  and  fear 
to  brush  the  petals.  There  is  something  evidently  in  the 
formula.  One  has  little  right  to  quarrel  with  the  artistic 
point  of  view ;  it  is  the  vision  that  is  wanted,  doubtless, 
and  not  the  thing  itself,  which  may  be  merely  vulgar  and 
obscure,  with  no  appeal.  And  yet,  can  we  say  that  in 
these  weird  manifestations  is  any  new  insight  into  matter, 
any  glimpse  of  heavenly  truth  ?  Personally,  I  doubt  it ; 
but  it  may  be  true.  At  any  rate,  I  have  been  told  that 
visitors  to  a  leading  Impressionist's  studio  have  seen  a 
series  of  studies  in  which  evolved  slowly,  and  by  evident 
design,  the  grotesque  figures  that  were  afterwards  presented 
as  the  revelation  inspired  and  distinctive  of  the  artist.  Does 
it  not  look  like  trickery,  instead  of  clarified  intelligence  ? 

There  is  an  exhibition  only  a  little  stranger  than  the 
Salon  d'Automl^e ;  it  is  the  Salon  des  Independants. 
Here  you  have  rank  insanity,  mixed  with  perception. 
To  the  "  Independants  "  a  man  sent  a  picture  with  the 
inspiring  legend :  "  Sunset  on  the  Adriatic."  An  un- 
suspecting donkey  at  Montmartre  was  the  real  author  of 
that  picture.  A  brush  was  fastened  to  his  tail,  and  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  tail  was  placed  the  canvas.  Each 
time  the  donkey  flicked  its  caudal  member  the  canvas 


TENDENCIES   IN   LITERATURE   AND   ART        59 

received  a  smear  of  paint ;  a  collection  of  these  smears 
formed  the  scene  which  afterwards  awakened  the  admira- 
tion or,  perhaps,  the  consternation  of  the  public.  In- 
dependent by  name  and  nature,  the  Salon  is  equally  so  by 
constitution.  There  is  no  Jury  and,  for  a  fee  of  ten  francs, 
all  the  world  may  send  a  masterpiece.  The  pictures 
sometimes  show  an  indecency  which  is  past  blushing  for, 
and,  indeed,  these  young  men  put  no  restraints  on  their 
eccentricity. 

An  exhibition  of  another  sort  is  the  Salon  des  Humor-/ 
istes,  which  justifies  its  name  by  giving  most  amusing 
examples  of  the  work  of  caricaturists  and  comic  draughts- 
men. There  is,  also,  much  humour  wrought  in  wood  and 
wax.  Such  ingenuity  is  displayed  that  one  is  pained  by 
the  thought  that  much  of  it  can  find  no  market. 

These  manifestations  would  indicate  a  state  of  mind 
incompatible  with  sound  art,  were  it  not  for  one 
consideration  :  that  by  such  search  and  bold  experiment 
the  new  formula  is  found.  The  new  school  of  Impres- 
sionists has  given  us  a  brilliant  galaxy  of  young  men,  and 
amongst  them  might  be  mentioned  Henri  Martin,  whose 
stencilled  sunlit  decorations  are  admirable  specimens  of 
their  kind.  By  trying,  we  discover,  and  by  discovery  we 
arrive  at  great  results — sometimes  at  the  renovation  of  art 
itself  Thus,  hope  need  not  be  lost  for  the  future  of 
painting  in  France.  The  younger  product  of  the  painting 
school  exhibits  an  almost  fiendish  desire  to  break  with 
traditions  and  with  the  worn  theories  of  professors,  to 
define  fresh  paths  across  experience — paths  that  lead  to 
lightsome  glades  and  elevated  spots,  where  sun  and  air  play 
upon  the  world.  Without  experiment,  without  a  courageous 
"elan"  into  the  upper  atmosphere  there  can  be  no  progress. 

British  art  grows  old,  so  very  old  ;  it  crumbles  and 
mumbles  in  its  mute  expression  of  Nothingness.     French 


6o  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

art,  if  it  does  not  grow  old,  grows  tricky  and  merely- 
clever.  The  pillars  of  the  Salons  are  examples  of  it — men 
who  paint  without  a  soul  but  with  a  mastery  of  leger- 
demain. This  is  not  the  sort  of  thing  that  makes  for 
progress,  that  traces  new  lines  across  the  unknown. 
Youth  and  courage  and  high  endeavour,  the  new  con- 
ception and  new  ideas  must  be  encouraged.  That  is  why 
strange  outbursts  in  art  are  not  hopeless.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  are  full  of  tidings  of  a  new  time — full  of  the 
spirit  that  belongs  to  To-morrow,  not  resting,  merely,  upon 
Yesterday.  In  England,  the  new  idea  is  rigidly  shut  out 
unless  it  bears  some  certificate  of  authority,  some  label  of 
respectability.  In  France  they  care  less  for  these  signs  of 
authenticity.  The  new  avenue  is  opened  to  the  Pioneer 
if  he  will  step  that  way,  brave  to  meet  the  critic  on  his 
own  ground.  The  Impressionists  and  the  wild  young 
daubers  of  the  untrammelled  school  are  the  advance 
guard  of  the  army  of  To-morrow.  They  appear  ridiculous 
to  the  veterans  of  Yesterday,  but  they  are  full  of  confidence 
and  courage.     He  who  laughs  last  laughs  best. 

Official  art  is  deadly.  The  painting  of  portraits  of 
Presidents  and  the  depiction  of  monster  mayoral  banquets 
are  depressing,  representing  the  negation  of  all  true  art. 

These  remarks  apply,  with  equal  force,  to  the  world  of 
literature.  The  day  of  great  emotions  is  past:  we  are 
getting  almost  tired  of  our  revolutions.  Nothing  touches 
us  any  more.  We  refuse  to  be  shocked  ;  we  refuse  to  take 
things  "  au  grand  serieux."  Nothing  matters ;  that  is  the 
prevailing  tone.  Since  this  is  our  mental  outlook,  can  we 
wonder  that  those  who  write  our  books  deal  with  tiny 
themes  that  amount  to  nothing  ?  It  would  be  an  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  there  is  no  literature  in  modern  France ; 
but  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  literature  of  the 
last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  will  not  for  a  moment 


TENDENCIES   IN   LITERATURE   AND   ART        6i 

compare  with  the  literature  of  a  bygone  age,  with  the 
literature  of  a  Balzac.  Elsewhere  I  deal  with  plays. 
The  play  is  the  thing  which  reveals  the  conscience  of  a 
people,  and  the  play  speaks  in  terms  of  actual  life,  living, 
palpitating,  whilst  a  book  is  often  a  dead  thing — ideas 
imprisoned  in  a  tomb.  The  play  has  driven  out  the  book 
in  France.  The  former  appeals  to  jaded  men  and  women  ; 
it  strikes  home  ;  its  lessons  are  instant ;  it  needs  little 
pondering  over  because  the  moral  is  there,  short,  sharp, 
and  decisive.  But  with  a  book  the  action  is  slow,  long, 
and  involved.  And  this  generation  of  aeroplanes  and 
automobiles  votes  it  pedestrian  and  uninspiring. 

Immoral  to  an  intense  degree,  dealing  with  perversion, 
are  certain  modern  efforts  to  instil  interest  in  the  novel. 
But  literature  of  this  sort  can,  happily,  leave  no  permanent 
mark,  or  effect  a  lasting  injury  upon  the  people.  It  is  a 
passing  phase,  a  symptom  of  morbid  restlessness,  rather 
than  a  studied  effort  after  popular  corruption.  Sometimes 
these  books  are  poisonously  true  to  life,  are  written  with 
great  skill,  and  attract  by  the  pure  beauty  of  their  form. 
But  such  things  cannot  be,  they  cannot  endure,  and  the 
taste  which  tolerates  them  changes  with  great  speed  into 
something  else.  It  is  fortunate  that  the  French  are  no 
more  steadfast  in  their  vices  than  in  their  virtues.  Nor,  as 
I  prove  elsewhere,  are  people  as  black  as  they  are  painted 
or  as  they  paint  themselves.  Being  "pot-au-feu"  and 
"  terre  a  terre,"  the  Frenchman  loves  to  imagine  himself  a 
Don  Juan,  a  Marquis  de  Priola,  and  books  of  a  certain 
category  give  him  the  sensation  and  illusion  he  requires. 

Great  books  are  dead.  Amongst  living  masters  are 
writers  such  as  Anatole  France,  whose  style  is  perfect  even 
if  his  message  to  the  people  is  no  longer  vigorous.  One 
can  imagine  some  great  artist  combining,  say,  the  perfect 
manner  of  Anatole  France  with  the  curious  anatomical 


62  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

accuracy  and  brilliant  introspection  of  Henry  James.  This 
would  be  a  perfect  combination ;  but  none  such  exists  in 
contemporary  literature.  Neither  has  France  a  Joseph 
Conrad,  a  Kipling,  nor  scarcely  a  Granville  Barker. 

Zola  lived,  and  is  dead :  a  great  workman  capable  even 
of  great  artistry,  though  hiding  it  beneath  a  laborious,  for- 
bidding style  that  suggested  nothing  so  much  as  the 
implacable  intensity  of  a  godless  piece  of  mechanism. 
Zola  is  dead,  and  with  him  the  school  of  Realists. 
Romanticism  and  Realism — the  two  play  "  chasse-croise," 
in  France ;  sometimes  the  one  has  it  and  sometimes  the 
other,  in  the  theatres  and  in  the  books.  Victor  Hugo, 
with  his  rhodomontade,  his  sentimentality  and  his  jingling 
measures,  is  driven  out  of  doors  by  some  image-breaker 
with  a  Voltairean  twist.  But  he  comes  in  again  at  the 
window,  when  the  public  wearies  of  the  materialism  of  the 
usurpers.  Action  and  Reaction  is  the  law  in  any  country 
of  intellectual  progress.  Balzac  stood  in  between,  extra- 
ordinary, monumental.  Titanic  in  his  immensity,  in  his 
expression  of  the  primitive  emotions,  of  Love,  of  Jealousy, 
and  of  Passion.  The  days  pass  and,  with  them,  the 
authors,  and  some  declare  that  there  is  none  to  write 
as  well  as  nothing  to  write  about. 

Jules  Lemaitre  and  contemporary  masters  of  the  French 
language  have  turned  themselves  into  polite  essayists. 
Marcel  Prevost  writes  agreeably  of  feminine  psychology. 
Paul  Bourget  gives  us  cases  of  conscience  in  his  books  and 
plays  ;  Rend  Bazin  writes  of  the  "  le  ble  qui  leve  " — full  of 
the  feeling  of  the  earth  and  of  the  old  spirit  of  patriotism 
transplanted ;  Maurice  Barres  keeps  alive  the  old  French 
sentiment,  the  racial  spirit  of  the  lost  Provinces.  These 
are  good  and  praiseworthy  things,  but  they  do  not  palpi- 
tate ;  they  do  not  touch  the  nation  as  a  whole.  None  can 
do  that.     The  novelists  themselves,  realizing  the  force  of 


TENDENCIES   IN   LITERATURE   AND   ART       63 

the  theatre,  try  to  turn  their  books  into  plays  as  the  more 
vivid  way  of  literary  expression. 

And  it  must  be  said  that  the  very  speed  and  mechanical 
genius  of  the  times  are  the  enemy  of  imagination,  the 
enemy  of  those  delicate  romances  which  George  Sand 
produced  with  such  amazing  fecundity.  The  eighteenth 
century  was  the  time  of  contemplation  and  mellifluous 
experience.  They  were  mellow  times,  times  before  steam 
and  explosion  engines  hurtled  us  through  the  air,  roaring 
their  way  through  peaceful  country-sides,  disturbing  the 
echoes  of  lone  woodlands,  frightening  the  peasantry  out  of 
their  primitive  ways.  Can  you  imagine,  nowadays,  a 
Corinne — Mme  de  Stael's  poetic  heroine?  She  is  clearly 
out  of  date.  No,  the  romance  departs,  leaving  little  that 
is  old — only  the  new  that  no  one  understands. 

Perhaps  writers  like  Gabriele  d'  Annunzio  have  best 
seized  the  spirit  of  the  age.  They  comprehend  contem- 
porary feeling,  and  so  they  write  about  flying-machines 
and  pitch  the  hero  into  mid-air,  where  he  may  soar  to- 
wards the  sun  and  experience  his  untranslatable  emotions. 
These  men,  at  least,  appreciate  the  longing  of  the  mortal 
to  escape  from  this  too  solid  earth,  from  this  stale  reality 
into  the  blue  where  are  space  and  air  and  sunshine,  and 
the  cold  silent  light  of  stars.  That  is  the  literature  of 
To-morrow :  the  poetized  side  of  machinery  :  Jules  Verne 
mixed  with  imagination  :  H.  G.  Wells,  philosopher,  united 
to  a  poet.  The  French  public  tire  visibly  of  the  romance. 
They  look  for  their  reading  to  historical  events,  lightly 
treated  and  luminously  embroidered  by  the  clever  student. 
Books  are  in  a  bad  way.  Of  the  classics,  Balzac  sells ; 
Moliere  is  used  for  school  prizes  and  recitations  ;  Hugo  is 
out  of  fashion,  and  there  is  none  to  succeed. 

The  Academie  Frangaise,  with  its  forty  immortals, 
seems  only  to  emphasize   the   void.     The   Academicians 


64  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

labour  perpetually  at  their  dictionary,  polishing  and  re- 
polishing  the  language,  but  its  vitality  has  gone :  a  poor, 
bloodless  anaemic  thing,  feebly  struggling  in  beautiful 
phrases  to  convey  beautiful  nullity. 

Style  killeth.  Writers  are  stifled  with  style.  They 
manage  to  say  nothing  at  all  with  stylish  simplicity,  when 
true  simplicity  would  keep  quiet. 

Charles  Geniaux  is  one  of  the  foremost  of  the  young  men 
who  have  something  to  say,  and  he  says  it  with  Zola-esque 
sincerity.  His  "  Cite  de  Mort "  is  a  remarkable  piece  of 
work,  vibrant  with  reality  and  with  the  things  that  make 
for  writing  ;  possibly  he  may  emerge  from  the  indifference 
of  the  age.  I  think  the  most  expressive  modern  move- 
ment in  letters  is  attributable  to  women.  Some  of  the 
best  writers  are  of  the  sex  of  Madame  de  Sevigne  and 
Madame  de  Stael.  One  of  the  cleverest  romanciers  is 
Daniel  Lesueur  (Madame  Henri  Lapauze).  Another  with 
real  insight  into  feminine  aspiration  and  problems  of  the 
hour,  and  with  artistry  at  her  command,  is  Madame 
Marcelle  Tinayre.  Then  we  /  have  Madame  Myriam 
Harry,  remarkable  for  her  pictures  of  the  East  and  for 
the  strange  charm  with  which  she  has  enveloped  the 
secluded  life  of  the  harem.  Women  realize  their  oppor- 
tunities, and  are  making  progress  in  letters  as  they  will 
make  progress,  probably,  in  the  other  branches  of  human 
endeavour.  And  why  not  ?  The  delicate  sensibility  and 
the  elegant  perceptions  of  many  women  endow  them  with 
just  the  qualities  for  novel-writing. 

Perhaps  the  very  literary  character  of  the  Frenchman's 
education  conspires  to  keep  down  talent  or,  at  least,  to 
render  less  conspicuous  the  "  chefs  d'oeuvre."  Every 
Frenchman  seems  an  orator  or  a  writer,  and  sometimes 
both.  Grace  of  language  belongs  much  more  to  the 
French  than  to  the  English  letter-writer.     The  girl  of  the 


TENDENCIES   IN   LITERATURE   AND   ART       65 

middle  classes,  writing  to  her  friend,  expresses  herself 
agreeably,  whereas  the  same  young  person  in  England, 
if  amusing  in  her  fresh  girlish  way,  has  vastly  less  facility 
of  phrase.  One  marvels,  sometimes,  and  is  almost  afraid 
of  the  tremendous  wealth  of  language,  of  the  real  literary 
skill  shown  in  the  drawing  up  of  Parliamentary  reports 
and  other  documents  of  official  sort,  which  are  apt  to  be 
so  arid  in  Anglo-Saxon  hands.  Here  is  expended  a 
wealth  of  good  writing,  and  the  result  is  a  book  that  makes 
excellent  reading,  oftentimes  as  interesting  as  a  novel  of 
adventure.  The  whole  tendency  and  training  of  the 
Frenchman  is  literary,  and,  in  the  schools,  what  we  should 
consider  as  remarkable  essays  are  penned  by  quite  young 
pupils.  The  result  is  a  high  general  level  of  literary 
expression  and  a  sad  vulgarization  of  precious  old  classical 
phrases,  which  seem  to  lose  their  significance  by  mere 
force  of  repetition ;  but  these  things  do  not  make  great 
books.  Because  the  vast  mass  of  the  people  know  how 
to  express  themselves  well,  they  are  not  thereby  equipped 
with  the  inventive  faculty  necessary  for  the  construction 
of  a  creative  work.  One  must  touch  the  heart ;  one  must 
inflame  the  mind  before  one  can  produce  that  mysterious 
chemical  compound  known  as  a  Great  Book.  The  French 
have  momentarily  become  exhausted  in  their  literary  ex- 
pression, and  have  little  left  to  say.  All  human  emotions 
have  found  their  biographer ;  there  is  so  little  virgin  soil 
left  for  exploration  and  analysis.  That  is,  doubtless,  why 
books  no  longer  sell  and  why  there  is  this  literary  "slump," 
which  is  called  "  La  Crise  du  Livre." 

Young  Oxford  and  Cambridge  students,  who  come  to 
Paris  to  complete  their  literary  studies,  often  surprise  their 
French  teachers  by  their  inability  to  write  an  essay. 
Every  French  lycean  is  taught  the  uses  and  necessities  of 
the  three  syllogisms,  but  the  English  undergrad  knows 
5 


66  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

little  of  such  mysteries,  and  writes  sometimes  with  a 
naiveU  that  is  disconcerting,  and  a  paucity  of  ideas  that 
seems  strange  to  those  habituated  to  the  lively  imagina- 
tions of  the  younger  generation  in  France.  In  England, 
therefore,  the  writer  of  a  great  book  has  a  much  bigger 
chance  to  be  heard  and  seen  since  he  rises  instantly  and 
conspicuously  above  the  common  mass.  Not  so  in  France, 
where  the  common  level  is  much  higher,  as  I  have  said. 
You  must  soar  higher  to  obtain  the  same  result. 

And  yet  comparing  literature  with  literature,  one  cannot 
pretend  that  French  exceeds  the  English  in  the  quality  of 
the  talent  displayed.  Rather  should  I  say — if  weighing 
in  the  scales  were  possible — that  the  balance  went  in 
favour  of  Great  Britain.  Taine  acknowledged  the 
superiority  of  English  poetry  over  French,  and  I  imagine 
that  an  equal  authority  would  give  precedence  to  English 
fiction,  taken  in  the  mass.  As  to  the  dramatists,  there  is 
certainly  no  Shakespeare.  Moliere,  wonderful  as  he  is, 
has  not  the  wide  appeal  of  the  man  who  wrote  of  all  human 
nature.  Nor  is  there  a  French  Milton.  We  could  go 
farther  and  say  that  Tennyson  and  Swinburne  are  lack- 
ing, as  well  as  Keats  and  Shelley.  Yet  in  questions  of 
comparison  many  elements  exist,  of  which  it  is  necessary 
to  take  note  :  manner  of  expression,  sentiment  and  subject 
involved,  and  a  hundred  other  points.  We  will  leave  this 
controversy  with  the  declaration  that  England  more  than 
holds  her  own  in  any  comparison  with  the  French  in  the 
subject-matter  of  her  books. 

But  if  one  takes  the  actual  writing,  the  form  and 
manner — not  the  matter — we  must  give  the  palm  to  the 
French  writer.  His  composition  is  much  superior,  and 
then  again  he  has  a  greater  freedom  to  say  what  he  will : 
he  is  less  afraid  of  convention.  He  has  not  before  him 
the  hateful  vision  of  the  Censor  with  his  blue  pencil  and 


TENDENCIES   IN   LITERATURE   AND   ART        67 

suburban  prejudices,  striking  out  the  passages  that  would 
be  hurtful  to  Peckham.  His  range  is  larger,  his  flight 
unbroken  by  the  shot  that  brings  to  earth.  Mrs.  Grundy 
has  had  a  terrific  influence  on  the  writing  of  all  English 
books.  Supposing  Dickens  could  have  dealt  in  larger 
style  with  the  themes  of  love  and  passion,  his  books 
would,  as  human  documents,  have  become  more  valuable, 
though  in  their  present  and  more  restricted  form  they  are 
still  the  most  cherished  literary  possessions  of  his  country- 
men and  of  the  English-speaking  world. 

Very  little  attention  is  given  to  form  in  writing  English. 
A  man,  as  a  rule,  says  what  he  has  to  say  in  a  plain  un- 
varnished way,  with  few  graces.  I  confess  I  consider  it  a 
less  evil  than  the  French  way  of  saying  nothing,  but 
saying  it  with  perfect  art.  This  undue  attention  to  form 
is  seen,  not  merely  in  literature,  but  in  other  regions  of 
artistic  expression. 

We  have  already  noted  that  in  the  yearly  Salons  clever- 
ness of  hand  often  supersedes  sincerity  of  inspiration. 
One  sometimes  wonders  whether  much  study  has  not 
made  the  French  artist  mad  for  mere  form.  In  archi- 
tecture, some  twenty  years  are  often  absorbed  in  equipping 
a  man  for  a  career  in  which  he  produces,  not,  alas  !  master- 
pieces, but  a  terrible  jumble  of  the  pseudo-classical.  And 
twenty  years  have  been  exhausted  in  preparing  for  and 
passing  through  the  Beaux  Arts,  as  well  as  those  final 
years  in  the  Villa  de  Medici  in  Rome — assuming  that  he 
has  won  the  coveted  "  prix,"  which  carries  him  to  the 
Eternal  City  and  lodges  him  for  three  years  at  the 
expense  of  the  State.  How  often  is  talent  killed  by  so 
dreadful  and  persistent  a  pressure  from  antiquity.  How 
shall  the  human  inspiration  survive  all  these  weighty 
invocations  of  a  dead  past  ?  A  man  climbs  over  the 
backs  of  the  great  Masters  to  a  weary  realization  of  his 


68  FRANCE  AND  THE   FRENCH 

own  imperfections  and  limitations.  Or  it  may  be  that, 
mounted  upon  the  shoulders  of  his  father,  he  may  declare 
with  childish  nawete,  "  See,  I  am  taller  than  you."  The 
twentieth  century,  if  it  boasts  in  this  nursery  manner,  has 
as  little  warrant  for  it  as  the  child.  If  the  present  decade 
gives  signs  of  a  renaissance  and  of  superiority  to  the  last 
century,  it  will  surely  never  compare  with  the  eighteenth. 
Nor  is  there  any  portraitist  or  painter  of  to-day  capable, 
for  instance,  of  ranking  with  Chardin,  La  Tour,  Fragonard, 
Reynolds,  Lawrence,  Gainsborough,  Romney,  if  we  except 
Sargent  in  his  most  brilliant  mood. 

Supposing  we  apply  tests  to  current  literature, tests  of  the 
past,  we  find  no  Balzac,  no  Victor  Hugo,  even ;  but  a  cen- 
tury is  not  barren  in  its  first  decade  when  rf  can  produce 
a  Rostand  and  a  Maeterlinck.  Maeterlinck  is  not  French, 
having  been  born  in  Ghent,  but  his  quarter  of  a  century  of 
work  has  been  passed  upon  the  soil  of  France  in  his 
splendid  Norman  retreat,  where  he  has  produced  master- 
pieces of  imagination,  of  delicate  and  graceful  craftsman- 
ship, of  subtle  introspection,  of  deep  observation  and  com- 
munion with  nature.  Whether  he  speaks  of  the  Bees 
or  the  Flowers,  his  reflections  have  the  cast  of  the  great 
mind,  bending  to  a  great  task :  the  study  of  the  sub- 
conscious world.  And  again,  when  he  leaves  the  mystery 
and  haunting  fear  of  his  earlier  days  and  plunges  into 
"  Wisdom  and  Destiny,"  one  feels  that  here  is  a  man 
qualified  to  teach,  imbued  with  the  science  and  philosophy 
of  life,  and  worthy  to  examine  into  its  mainsprings  of 
action.  His  is  a  message  sober  and  austere,  touched  with 
mystery,  deep  with  hidden  meaning,  and  with  face  turned 
towards  the  Eternal  Verities.  Whether  he  introduces  us, 
as  in  his  "  Blue  Bird,"  to  the  symbolism  of  existence  in 
its  search  for  the  unattainable,  or  deals,  as  in  "  Pelleas  et 
M^lisande,"  with  inexorable  fate,  or  whether  he  talks  of 


TENDENCIES   IN   LITERATURE   AND   ART       69 


death,  claiming  that  the  weakness  of  the  moribund  is  the 
cause  of  its  terrors,  he  has  always  the  sure  and  profound 
touch  of  the  deep  thinker,  not  harsh  with  science  like  a 
Herbert  Spencer,  but  gilding  his  psychic  discoveries  with 
the  radiant  colour  of  the  poet  and  with  the  largeness  of 
view  of  the  superman. 

A  comparison  between  Rostand  and  Maeterlinck  is 
scarcely  possible,  since  essential  difference  divides  them. 
Both  are  comparatively  young  men,  from  whom  one  may 
expect  further  works  of  power  and  illumination.  Rostand's 
"  Chantecler  "  is  as  brilliant  a  piece  of  writing,  as  full  of 
satire,  biting  and  forceful,  as  Aristophanes'  "  Birds,"  or  any 
of  the  old  Greek  satirists  of  the  Golden  Age  of  poetic 
plays.  To-day  he  startles  and  amazes  by  the  brilliance  of 
his  verbal  power,  by  his  astounding  command  of  language, 
the  pyrotechnics  of  his  French,  the  thunder  of  his  periods, 
his  cascades  of  falling  stars.  Birds  and  beasts  talk  philo- 
sophy in  his  great  animal  play,  and,  though  some  may 
scoff  at  the  stage  production  and  find  it  wearisome  and 
wanting,  there  is  none  that  shall  not  say  it  is  as  wonderful 
a  piece  of  literary  workmanship  as  ever  was.  As  a  pageant 
and  panorama  it  is  glorious,  fit  to  waken  in  the  breasts  of 
all  beholders  the  feeling  that  here  is  the  man  possessing 
the  rich  gift  of  speech  to  express  chivalry  in  an  un- 
chivalrous  age,  the  philosophy  of  material  times,  the  glit- 
tering folly  of  fools  and  pundits.  Certainly  he  struck  a 
lofty,  patriotic  note  in  "  Cyrano  de  Bergerac,"  which,  for 
sheer  elegance  of  diction,  beauty  of  expression  and  mag- 
nificence of  parade,  has  scarcely  been  equalled  by  any  play- 
wright dead  or  living.  Rostand  appeared  in  the  firmament 
just  when  he  was  most  needed.  The  world  had  sickened 
of  the  crudities  of  the  Zola  regime,  of  his  hard,  relentless 
exposure  of  the  sordidness  of  life  (though  in  "  La  Faute  de 
I'Abbe  Mauret  "  and  "  Le  Reve  "  he  shows  ability  to  touch 


70         FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

and  gild  with  poetic,  idealistic  brush).  Yet,  in  the  main, 
his  work  has  been  disintegrating,  exhibiting  with  ferocious, 
relentless  pride  the  weaknesses  of  his  country  and  his 
epoch.  The  public,  I  say,  wearied  of  these  things,  and 
hailed  with  a  joy  rarely  seen  in  France  the  advent  of  a  new 
literary  figure,  clothed  in  the  romantic  costume  of  days 
when  the  "  panache  "  existed  and  life  was  not — or  seemed 
not  to  be — a  mere  question  of  ways  and  means.  Rostand 
came  with  golden  oriflamme,  speaking  of  brave  deeds  and 
high  achievements,  blowing  the  trumpet  of  a  wild  sort  of 
heroism,  speaking  gay  words  of  high  renown  and  lofty 
colouring,  waking  the  echoes  with  a  triumphant  cry  of 
men  who  took  the  great  view  of  Life,  who  trod  upon  the 
earth  like  gods  and  waved  their  swords  on  high  and  cried, 
"  Halt  and  tremble,  all  ye  knaves,  and  look  upon  the  Sun." 
It  was  in  heroic  phrase  he  talked  and  made  his  actors 
talk,  enveloping  the  common  action  with  a  web  of  gold, 
transmuting  the  dull  clay  of  our  existence  into  something 
grandiose  that  seemed  to  be  of  Heaven  and  of  the  sacred 
Palladium.  Rostand's  mission  has  been  to  beautify,  to 
exalt,  to  cause  the  world  to  say,  "  This  is  the  France  of 
other  times,  made  glorious  by  poets,  and  electrified  by  a 
magician." 

Magic  and  mystery  belong  to  Maeterlinck,  but  magic 
also  to  Edmond  Rostand,  who,  with  a  mastery  such  as 
few  contemporaries  have  of  his  own  rich  and  varied 
tongue,  invests  his  characters  with  an  imagery  that  one 
has  not  seen  since  the  days  of  Shakespeare  and  the 
Elizabethan  dramatists.  Yet  neither  one  nor  the  other 
is  typical. 

What  is  true,  as  we  have  said,  of  painting,  of  literature, 
and  of  architecture,  is  true  in  other  branches  of  art — 
music  and  its  themes.  "  Pelleas  et  Melisande  "  may  serve 
as  an  illustration  of  the  new  school  founded  by  Debussy, 


TENDENCIES   IN   LITERATURE   AND   ART        71 


which  supplies  a  wild,  descriptive  background  of  strange 
and  unconventional  sounds  to  the  subject  it  is  called  upon 
to  treat.  Though  there  is  much  cleverness  in  the  compo- 
sition, and  much  daring  in  the  conception,  it  is  difficult  to 
say  what  the  judgment  will  be  a  hundred  years  from  now. 
Will  the  new  music  wear  as  has  done  the  old  ?  That  is 
the  only  test.  In  any  case  Debussy's  *'  L'Apres-midi  d'un 
Faune  "  is  a  remarkable  piece  of  work,  as  poetic  in  treat- 
ment as  it  is  in  title. 

If  the  epoch  is  not  interesting  in  the  strict  sense  of  art, 
at  least  it  represents  an  era  of  experiments.  There  is  a 
desire  to  find  new  paths,  to  unearth  new  secrets,  to  listen 
to  new  songs  from  the  White  Mountains  of  experience,  to 
lay  firmer  hold  of  life,  to  enlarge  the  borders  of  perception, 
and  to  say :  "  Nothing  shall  be  inaccessible  to  my  sym- 
pathies." The  result  has  not  been  great,  but  it  is  not 
hopeless.  France,  least  of  any  nation,  need  not  feel  the 
tragedy  of  despair,  that  experience  is  exhausted,  that  there 
is  no  morrow,  no  sequel  to  the  story  of  man's  achievement. 

No  doubt  we  are  far  from  the  time  when  Hugo's  dis- 
ciples fought  in  the  pit  at  the  Comedie  Fran9aise  with  the 
classical  school,  though  occasionally  a  band  of  students  at 
the  Odeon  or  elsewhere  will  hiss  the  innovator  in  the 
classic  grounds  of  Corneille  and  Racine.  But,  in  the 
general  trend  of  things,  there  is  no  great  enthusiasm  for 
these  glories  of  the  past,  but  rather  an  impatience  to 
attain  to  new  ends  and  to  leave  the  dead  to  bury  its  dead. 
Such  an  attitude  may  be  good  or  it  may  be  bad ;  I  do 
not  dogmatize.  Happily,  signs  exist  that  youth  is  not 
exhausted,  and  there  is  still  stimulus  to  artistic  exertion 
in  the  great  white  plain  stretched  out  before  every  earnest 
student  in  the  arts,  literary,  pictorial,  or  plastic. 


CHAPTER   IV 
NEW   SOCIAL   INFLUENCES 

WHILST  it  is  perfectly  true  that  the  Entente 
Cordiale  has  had  a  considerable  social  influ- 
ence on  France,  inspiring  the  young  genera- 
tion to  sport,  enlarging  the  horizon  of  parents,  encouraging 
them  to  bring  up  their  children,  especially  the  girls,  on 
larger  English  lines,  the  traditions  of  the  Roman  parent 
still  maintain  to  a  large  extent.  Though  that  admirable 
and  enlightened  priest,  the  Abbe  Lemire,  who  sits  in  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  has  added  to  the  Statute  Book  a  law 
facilitating  marriage,  it  is  still  the  custom  for  young  people 
to  wait  for  the  consent  of  their  parents  before  leading 
the  partner  of  their  choice  to  the  altar.  Until  quite  re- 
cently, neither  young  man  nor  woman  could  marry  with- 
out the  consent  of  parents  until  the  age  of  thirty  had  been 
reached ;  but  the  latest  legislation  has  reduced  the  period 
of  incapacity,  for  both  contracting  parties,  to  twenty-one 
years.  However,  it  is  necessary,  between  that  age  and 
thirty,  to  address  an  "  acte  respectueux  "  to  the  parents, 
informing  them  of  an  intention  to  marry.  This  "  acte  re- 
spectueux "  is  now  limited  to  a  single  summons  calling 
upon  parents  to  show  cause  for  the  objection.  It  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  rare  for  the  Courts  to  support 
parents  in  their  opposition.  A  case  in  point  is  the  mar- 
riage of  M.  Casimir-Perier,  son  of  a  former  President  of 

72 


NEW  SOCIAL   INFLUENCES  73 

the  Republic,  with  Mme  Simone,  the  divorced  wife  of  M. 
Le  Bargy  of  the  Comedie  Frangaise.  The  Courts  refused 
to  intervene  on  the  prayer  of  Mme  Casimir-Perier,  the 
mother  of  the  young  man. 

Yet  it  requires  considerable  courage  on  the  part  of  a  son 
to  brave  his  parents'  anger  and  marry  the  lady  of  his  own 
selection.  Cases  are  not  infrequent  where  the  door  has  been 
closed  to  the  daughter  of  the  family  who  has  persisted 
in  allying  herself  with  a  young  man  whose  position  or 
prospects  were  not  considered  good  enough  by  the  family, 
or  who  was  objected  to  for  some  other  reason.  In  a  case 
which  I  have  in  mind,  the  "  dot "  was  not  withheld,  but, 
after  the  ceremony,  the  father  called  a  family  council  and 
decreed  that  the  name  of  the  offending  child  should  never 
be  mentioned  before  him.  Notwithstanding,  or,  perhaps, 
because  of  the  affection  they  lavish  upon  their  children, 
French  parents  find  difficulty  in  forgiving  them  for  an  act 
of  disobedience  which  weakens  parental  authority.  They 
cannot  understand  their  children's  want  of  appreciation 
of  plans  for  their  own  happiness. 

Yet,  certain  new  forces  are  at  work,  undermining  the  old 
order  of  things — perhaps  even  loosening  the  bonds  of  that 
wonderful  institution,  the  French  family.  It  is  becoming 
more  and  more  common  for  a  young  girl  to  refuse  to 
marry  the  young  man  selected  by  her  parents  for  social  or 
family  reasons  and  to  answer  the  dictates  of  her  own  heart. 
There  is  a  revolt  among  the  daughters  of  France  against 
these  old  customs  which  bind  their  will  and  deliver  them 
into  a  species  of  marital  bondage.  But  the  "  mariage  de 
convenance"  is  still  the  rule  in  society ;  the  term  "mariage 
d'inclinaison  "  is  used  and  proves  what  an  exception  a  love 
marriage  is. 

The  marriage  contract  is  made  with  the  same  care  and 
is  subject  to  exactly  the  same  argument  as  an  ordinary 


I- 


74  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

deed  of  partnership.  There  is  no  sentiment  in  it  from 
start  to  finish.  The  tendency,  nowadays,  especially  in  the 
upper  circles,  is  to  give  the  woman  direction  of  her  own 
property.  This  is  secured  by  a  "  regime  "  or  series  of  rules 
known  as  the  "  separation  de  biens."  It  may  be  compared 
with  the  Married  Women's  Property  Acts.  The  wife  has 
complete  management  of  her  property  and  enjoyment  of 
the  income.  Such  a  privilege  is  not  hers  under  any  of  the 
other  systems ;  the  husband  has  usually  extraordinary 
powers  to  dissipate  the  wife's  property  without  rendering 
any  account  of  his  stewardship.  The  community  system 
("regime  de  la  communaute")  is  very  common.  It  implies 
the  creation  of  a  separate  fund,  distinct  from  the  patrimony 
of  either  spouse,  and  composed  for  the  most  part  of  the 
personal  property  possessed  by  the  parties  at  the  time  of 
marriage,  the  income  accruing  during  the  marriage,  and  all 
real  estate  purchased  within  that  time.  The  husband  alone 
administers  the  property  and  the  law  gives  him  full  power 
to  do  what  he  will  with  it. 

Then  there  is  the  "  regime  de  non-communaute,"  in 
which  each  party  retains  his  or  her  own  property  as  a 
separate  entity.  The  rights  of  the  wife,  however,  are 
illusory  since  the  husband  has  sole  control,  only  subject  to 
a  liability  to  account  for  the  property  upon  the  dissolution 
of  the  marriage.  Finally,  there  is  the  most  drastic  system 
of  all,  known  as  the  "  regime  dotal."  The  wife  brings  all 
her  property  to  her  husband,  who  enjoys  peculiar  rights  in 
its  disposal.  Though  the  wife  remains,  nominally,  the 
owner,  the  husband  has  power,  not  only  over  the  personalty, 
as  in  the  community  system,  but  over  the  realty  as  well. 
He  has,  therefore,  wide  opportunities  for  squandering  the 
property,  the  wife's  only  protection  being  to  petition  the 
Courts  for  a  separation  of  goods  on  the  ground  that  her 
dowry  is  in  peril. 


NEW  SOCIAL   INFLUENCES  75 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that,  unless  a  "  separation  de  biens  " 
is  expressly  stipulated,  the  wife's  property  remains  at  the 
mercy  of  the  husband.  This  is  so  in  law,  but  in  practice 
it  may  not  be  quite  so.  There  is  the  lady's  family  to 
reckon  with,  as  well  as  the  lady  herself,  who  probably  has 
a  very  good  head  for  business,  like  the  majority  of  her  sex 
in  France.  Though  "mariages  de  convenance"  are  clearly 
out  of  spirit  with  the  age,  there  is  something  to  be  said  in 
their  favour.  The  French  believe  heartily  in  the  truth  of 
the  old  proverb :  "  When  poverty  comes  in  at  the  door, 
love  flies  out  oP^the  window."  The  distressful  cases  of 
improvident  marriages  so  common  in  England  are  practi- 
cally unknown  in  France,  where  every  girl,  even  in  the 
poorest  circumstances,  contrives  to  gather  a  "  dot "  before 
she  unites  her  fortunes  to  those  of  a  man.  Also,  as  I 
insist  elsewhere,  a  certain  economic  independence  is 
secured  to  the  "  weaker  vessel "  by  the  fact  that  she  has 
a  considerable  stake  in  the  business  enterprises  of  her 
husband. 

Whilst  it  is  quite  true  that  restricting  conventions  are 
less  strong  in  the  middle  classes  than  heretofore,  the 
higher  "Bourgeoisie"  and  the  aristocratic  remnants  of 
the  "  Faubourg "  still  resist  the  inroads  of  modern  ideas. 
"  Society,"  as  the  word  is  understood  by  the  "  Gaulois,"  is 
just  as  narrow  in  its  treatment  of  girls  and  just  as  rigid  in 
its  exclusiveness  as  ever  it  was.  The  liberal  movement 
comes  exclusively  from  below.  Ninety-five  per  cent  of 
the  marriages  are  arranged.  The  engagement  lasts  six 
weeks,  and  the  fiances  never  see  each  other  alone.  One 
may  often  hear  in  Paris  "  salons  "  the  remark,  applicable  to 
a  charming  young  girl  who  is  present :  "  She  is  very 
pretty.  What  a  pity  she  cannot  marry,  but  she  has  not  a 
centime."  Though  there  are  democratic  features  in  French 
life  that  do  not  exist  in  England,  it  is  rare  to  find  the 


76        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

members  of  one  social  caste  intermarrying  with  another. 
The  aristocrat  does  not  become  the  husband  of  the  actress. 
The  principal  divisions  of  "  society  "  are  "  le  Monde,"  that 
is  to  say,  the  more  or  less  authentically  ennobled  class  : 
the  old  Faubourg  Saint  Germain ;  the  "  Haute  Bourgeoisie," 
and  the  "  Petite  Bourgeoisie."  The  "  fonctionnaires  "  may 
be  said  to  constitute  a  fourth  class.  The  Civil  Service 
regards  itself  as  superior  to  the  rest  of  humanity,  though, 
nowadays,  it  includes  many  diverse  elements,  such  as  the 
staffs  of  the  great  departments  of  State,  the  Prefects  and 
sub-Prefects,  the  army  of  school-teachers,  who  adopt  the 
odd  pose  of  anti-militarism  and  Socialism ;  the  enormous 
postal  staff,  the  police  and  the  railway  workers  on  the  two 
systems  controlled  by  Government.  If  you  add  to  these  the 
"  douaniers,"  municipal  employes  and  inspectors  called  into 
existence  by  new  social  legislation,  you  will  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  arriving  at  the  total  of  a  million,  or  one  in  forty, 
engaged  in  the  task  of  administrating  the  other  thirty-nine. 
Between  the  Bourgeoisie  and  "  le  Monde  "  is  a  great  gulf 
fixed.  The  Bourgeoisie  includes  all  those  engaged  in  pro- 
fessions or  commerce,  and  is  analogous  to  the  middle 
classes  in  England.  The  profession  of  the  law,  for  instance, 
is  entirely  recruited  from  bourgeois  elements  on  account 
of  the  objection  of  the  aristocracy,  or  the  highest  society, 
to  serve  under  the  Republic.  Prejudice  of  this  sort  is 
slowly  disappearing,  but  there  is  some  real  movement 
in  that  direction.  It  is  in  the  literary,  artistic,  and 
Bourgeois  France  that  one  finds  mental  stimulus  and 
real  social  enjoyment.  The  drawing-rooms  of  the  old 
"  noblesse  "  are  dull  to  the  point  of  tears.  The  only  service 
in  which  the  aristocracy  will  engage  is  the  army  and  navy, 
and,  to  some  extent,  diplomacy.  The  officers  of  the  smart 
cavalry  regiments  are  men  of  good  family.  In  other 
branches   of  the   defence   forces,   however,   the   spirit   is 


NEW   SOCIAL   INFLUENCES  77 

democratic.  One  of  M.  Pelletan's  achievements,  when 
ruler  of  the  Republic's  navy,  was  to  elevate  the  dockyard 
hands  at  the  expense  of  officers  of  the  old  and  aristocratic 
school.  In  other  respects,  the  enemies  of  the  actual 
"  regime  "  find  their  position  difficult,  as  when  called  upon 
to  aid  the  civil  arm  in  driving  out  the  Religious  Sisters 
under  the  operation  of  the  Associations  Law. 

The  most  potent  cause  working  for  change  in  the  social 
customs  of  France  is  the  Girls'  Lycee.  During  the  twenty 
years  that  secondary  education  for  both  sexes  has  been 
developed  on  equal  lines,  numbers  of  women  have  decided 
that  there  are  other  occupations  open  to  them  than  "  the 
trade  of  marriage."  They  realize  that,  from  an  educa- 
tional point  of  view  at  least,  they  are  as  qualified  as  their 
brothers  to  follow  the  liberal  professions.  Women  now 
occupy  high  posts  in  the  educational  world.  Numbers 
graduate  each  year  from  the  Sorbonne  and  the  universities 
in  the  provinces.  A  certain  number  of  women  has  become 
qualified  to  practise  at  the  Bar,  though  it  cannot  be  said 
that,  at  present,  the  experiment  has  been  attended  with 
much  success,  and  a  still  larger  number  has  embraced  the 
profession  of  medicine.  The  women,  however,  who  prac- 
tise the  healing  art  are  generally  of  foreign  extraction, 
Jewish  Poland  supplying  a  large  number  of  female  students 
in  the  medical  schools.  There  is  still  a  prejudice  existing 
amongst  women  of  the  better  classes  in  France  against 
adopting  a  career  of  this  exacting  character,  which  appears, 
at  first  sight,  to  be  incompatible  with  feminine  sensibility. 
However  that  may  be,  the  sex  shows  a  greater  and  greater 
tendency  to  break  away  from  the  old  narrow  conventions, 
which  prescribed  housework  and  the  care  of  the  children 
as  its  exclusive  duty. 

On  the  lines  familiar  to  England,  the  Suffiragette  move- 
ment hardly  exists   in  France,  but  its   counterpart  is  a 


78  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

solid  and  defensible  thing.  It  is  called  "  F^minisme," 
and  insists  on  the  right  of  woman  to  follow  any  avenue  of 
employment  that  may  seem  desirable  to  her.  It  is  the  claim 
of  woman  to  work  on  conditions  equal  to  those  of  the 
male.  One  of  the  most  striking  books  on  the  subject, 
which  has  had  a  profound  influence,  is  "  La  Rebelle,"  written 
by  Mme  Marcelle  Tinayre.  It  describes  the  career  of  a 
woman  journalist  who  determined  to  carve  out  a  position 
for  herself,  and  to  be  no  longer  dependent  on  the  other 
sex.  She  came  to  this  resolution  as  the  result  of  bad 
treatment  received  at  the  hands  of  her  lover.  Daniel 
Lesueur's  "  Nietzscheenne  "  also  deals  with  the  revolt  of 
women  from  unjust  restrictions.  "  Elizabeth  Davenay,"  by 
Mile  Claire  de  Pratz,  published  in  1909,  gives  a  very  good 
picture  of  the  ideals  of  advanced  womanhood  in  France. 

Only  a  small  section  claims  the  vote.  The  franchise 
has  not  the  same  charm  for  the  Frenchwoman  as  it 
appears  to  possess  for  some  noisy  partisans  in  England. 
The  Frenchwoman  feels  that,  already,  her  influence  in 
politics  is  very  great — greater,  perhaps,  because  of  being 
concealed  and  indirect.  Yet  most  of  those  concerned  in 
the  movement  will  tell  you  that  their  ultimate  aim  is  to 
remove  the  sex  disqualification  for  the  franchise.  The 
Napoleonic  code,  they  maintain,  shows  the  disdainful 
attitude  of  the  Emperor  towards  the  other  half  of 
humanity ;  women,  children,  and  idiots  are  placed  on  the 
same  level  of  civic  incapacity.  It  is  this  disability  that 
will  disappear  once  the  sex  has  accustomed  man  to 
equality  in  other  directions.  It  may  be  the  more  logical 
way  of  attacking  the  problem  ;  at  least,  it  is  more  insidious, 
and  feminism  gains  new  conquests  every  day. 

These  things  have  great  social  consequence.  They 
tend  to  the  breaking  down  of  those  barriers  of  convention 
and  Bourgeois  prejudice  which  still  enclose  the  French 


NEW   SOCIAL   INFLUENCES  79 

family.  The  stranger,  be  he  ever  so  well  recommended  by- 
natural  gifts,  and  by  birth  and  education,  still  finds  great 
difficulty  in  penetrating  to  the  French  "  interior."  As  I 
have  already  said,  the  Frenchman  will  invite  his  English  or 
American  friend  to  a  dinner  at  the  restaurant,  but  rarely, 
if  ever,  extends  that  invitation  to  the  home  circle,  where 
the  stranger  would  come  into  contact  with  his  wife  and 
children.  As  the  word  is  understood  in  England,  the 
Frenchman  is  not  hospitable.  France  is  the  country  of 
no  spare  bedrooms.  Members  of  different  families  do  not 
stay  with  one  another  as  is  the  pleasant  custom  in  Eng- 
land. The  "  week-end  "  habit  of  interchangeable  hospi- 
tality has  not  been  engrafted  on  French  stock,  though 
the  entertainment  of  the  foreigner  has  become  more 
common  in  the  country  than  in  Paris.  It  is  hardly  an 
exaggeration  to  say  that  each  family  is  the  enemy  of  all 
others.  The  family  is  the  explanation  of  many  things  in 
France.  The  patriarchal  idea  is  always  dominant.  The 
view-point  of  marriage  is  the  family.  It  is  the  strongest 
tie  that  exists.  The  attachment  of  the  Frenchman  to  his 
mother  is  proverbial.  To  the  robust  Anglo-Saxon  mind 
it  appears  exaggerated  to  the  point  of  effeminacy.  Yet, 
in  spite  of  Pierre  de  Coulevain,  who,  in  "  LTle  Inconnue," 
emits  the  theory  that  the  English  are  a  masculine  and  the 
French  a  feminine  race,  we  are  not  prepared  to  say  that 
the  French  are  effeminate,  or  that  they  are  decadent.  It 
would  be  much  truer  to  say  that  the  British  are  self- 
complacent. 

The  French  are  holding  their  place  particularly  in  the 
sciences.  Some  of  the  most  wonderful  inventions  of  the 
present  day  owe  their  initiation  and  development  to  the 
French.  In  education  they  make  sound  and  continual  pro- 
gress, and  it  would  not  be  inaccurate  to  say,  as  I  repeat 
elsewhere,  that  the  general  level  of  instruction  is  higher 


8o  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

than  in  England.  It  may  be  asked  in  what  direction 
matriarchy  acts  adversely  on  the  nation.  The  answer  is 
not  easy  to  give.  I  presume  that  the  greatest  fault,  spring- 
ing from  the  adoration  of  and  reliance  upon  the  mother,  is 
a  certain  want  of  sturdiness  and  an  extraordinary  reluctance 
to  leave  the  home  circle.  This,  of  course,  has  a  deplor- 
able effect  on  colonial  affairs ;  at  the  same  time,  it  has  not 
been  bad,  perhaps,  for  the  development  of  the  country 
itself.  Emigration,  as  a  solution  for  social  sores,  may 
retard  the  proper  development  of  the  mother  country. 
The  drawing-ofif  process  for  the  benefit  of  the  colonies  has 
not  been  without  its  hurtful  effects  on  the  island  kingdom. 
There  is  no  country,  not  even  the  United  States,  with 
its  high  cost  of  living,  where  the  common  people  are  as 
well  off  as  in  France.  The  division  of  property,  the 
thriftiness  of  the  people,  the  fact  that  the  woman  works  as 
well  as  the  man,  and  that  she  brings  a  certain  sum  of 
money,  at  the  moment  of  her  marriage,  to  the  common 
fund  ;  also  her  equipment  in  household  science  such  as  her 
knowledge  of  cooking,  and  her  clever  general  ideas  on  the 
subject  of  clothes  and  management,  contribute  in  no  small 
measure  to  make  life  worth  living  and  to  raise  the  standard 
of  self-respect  in  the  lowest  strata  of  society.  It  is  always 
difficult  to  establish  comparisons,  but  I  believe  the  state- 
ment that  the  very  poor  in  France  extract  much  more 
pleasure  from  life  than  the  very  poor  in  England  can 
hardly  be  contested  by  any  one  having  more  than  a 
superficial  knowledge  of  the  two  peoples. 


CHAPTER  V 
SOME  FURTHER  SOCIAL  ASPECTS 

THE  addiction  to  sport  of  the  present  generation 
in  France  is  an  amazing  sign  of  the  times.  In 
particular,  French  youth  has  taken  up  football 
with  an  extraordinary  enthusiasm,  and  the  day  has  already 
arrived  when  it  is  able  to  meet,  almost  on  equal  terms,  the 
best  talent  in  England.  Apart  from  the  central  organiza- 
tion which  supplies  international  players,  the  Racing  Club 
de  France  and  the  Stade  Frangaise  furnish  teams  which 
their  English  opponents  find  difficulty  in  beating.  In 
tennis  also,  French  prowess  is  admitted,  and  aptitude  is 
shown  in  aquatic  sports,  in  boxing,  in  golf,  and  a  dozen 
directions.  Five  years  from  now,  one  may  certainly 
expect  to  see  a  great  development.  There  are  at  least 
two  daily  papers  in  Paris  devoted  to  athletic  matters, 
independent  of  horse-racing,  and  sports  of  all  kinds  have 
a  surprising  number  of  organs  in  the  weekly  Press.  The 
renaissance  is  striking.  This  new  liking  for  out-of-door 
exercise,  coupled  with  compulsory  military  service,  is  doing 
a  great  deal  for  young  France.  The  race  of  Frenchmen  is 
growing  taller,  particularly  the  wealthier  class.  Even  now,  in 
physique,  the  inhabitants  of  the  large  towns  compare  favour- 
ably with  those  of  London  or  Manchester,  The  rural  popu- 
lations are  probably  stronger  in  France  than  in  England. 

There  is  a  widening-out,  generally,  in  the  French  charac- 
ter.    It  is  very  noticeable  in  the  young  men.    The  exagger- 
ated cult  of  pleasure,  which  existed  in  the  Second  Empire 
6  8i 


82  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

and  has  given  us  some  extraordinary  books  of  memoirs  and 
revelations  of  social  secrets,  has  passed  or  is  passing  in 
favour  of  the  saner  joys  of  sport  and  of  the  more  virile 
occupations  of  politics.  The  school  of  rising  stars  in  the 
political  firmament  is  the  university.  Youths  of  twenty 
become  fired  with  generous,  if  impracticable,  ideals.  In 
their  adolescent  imagination  every  ill  to  which  the  world 
is  heir  can  be  conjured  by  some  political  nostrum  invented 
by  Karl  Marx  or  other  of  the  German  philosophers.  These 
enthusiastic  young  men  are  a  welcome  rather  than  a 
disquieting  sign.  They  learn  wisdom  later,  when  they  see 
the  futility  of  theories  that  have  but  little  relation  to  the 
facts  of  every  day.  Of  necessity,  they  find  that  their 
dreams  must  take  on  a  more  sober  colouring. 

It  has  been  urged  that  this  cult  of  things  English  by 
the  French  will  prove  inimical  to  their  individuality, 
causing  them  to  lose  their  special  virtues  and  substitu- 
ting others  of  a  foreign  sort,  for  which  they  are  ill  adapted 
by  nature  and  tradition.  I  do  not  think  this  is  likely. 
The  French  have  individuality  of  their  own,  and  it  is  likely 
to  be  a  proof  against  imitation  of  an  exaggerated  section 
of  the  community.  At  the  same  time,  a  little  mingling 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  virtues  with  the  more  imaginative 
temperament  will  not  be  a  bad  thing.  And  we  English  are 
the  better  for  contact  with  a  people  who  stand  for  ideas, 
and  who  possess  the  saving  grace  of  intellectual  honesty. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  I  treat  of  the  eternal  question  of 
the  comparative  morality  of  peoples.  Are  the  French 
more  immoral,  as  the  phrase  goes,  than  the  English  ?  It 
may  be  assumed  without,  I  think,  the  possibility  of  con- 
tradiction, that  the  Englishman  lives  more  chastely  than 
the  Frenchman  during  the  period  of  his  youth.  It  has 
often  been  remarked  with  astonishment  by  French  teachers 
and  others  having  opportunity  of  observation  in  England, 
that  the  English  schoolboy  or  college  graduate  scarcely 


SOME  FURTHER  SOCIAL  ASPECTS  83 

allows  his  mind  to  dwell  upon  the  opposite  sex.  The 
older  boys  in  their  prefectorial  studies  rarely  discuss  the 
eternal  feminine ;  she  is  outside  their  life  or  but  vaguely 
outlined,  somewhere,  as  a  romantic  possibility  for  after 
years.  With  the  French  boy,  unless  wholly  devoted  to 
sport — and  consequently  "half  English"  in<the  view  of 
his  compatriots — one  of  his  principal  occupations  and 
pleasures  is  the  contemplation  of  the  charms  of  the  girl 
by  whom  his  fancy  has  been  enthralled.  No  greater  con- 
trast could  be  provided  by  the  two  nations  than  their 
manner  of  regarding  women.  In  a  recent  play  at  the 
Comedie  Frangaise,  one  of  the  characters  is  made  to  say, 
"  When  we  were  young  and  married  a  wife,  we  just  married 
her,  and  there  was  an  end  of  it.  We  did  not  bother  any 
more."  To  a  certain  extent  that  is  the  attitude  of  the 
average  Englishman.  Once  married,  he  does  not  bother 
any  more.  The  wife  is  left  largely  to  her  own  devices. 
This  isolation  is  necessary  during  the  working  day,  but  it 
is  obviously  pure  egotism  when,  after  the  evening  meal, 
the  bread-winner  betakes  himself  to  his  club.  In  France 
the  club  is  only  for  the  select  few.  There  are  no  cheap 
institutions  of  the  sort.  The  average  Frenchman  does  not 
feel  the  necessity  of  a  club,  of  spending  hours  apart  from 
his  wife  and  feminine  society.  He  prefers  conversation  with 
women  to  any  other  form  of  social  intercourse.  I  am  aware 
that  there  are  material  reasons  that  weigh  in  his  decision  to 
forgo  a  relaxation  of  this  sort,  which  appears  so  indispen- 
sable to  the  Briton.  The  subscription  is  large,  because  the 
Government  exacts  a  heavy  poll-tax  upon  each  member.  It 
looks  with  jealous  eye  on  social  organizations,  lest,  becom- 
ing popular  and  widespread,  they  should  take  on  a  secret 
and  subversive  character  inimical  to  the  present  political 
system  ;  but  that  does  not  affect  the  general  principle. 
The  Frenchman's  regard  for  women  not  only  influences 


84         FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

his  attitude  towards  clubs,  but  towards  life  in  general. 
The  Englishman  can  live  independently  of  feminine  in- 
fluence ;  he  feels  no  great  necessity  for  female  companion- 
ship. A  woman  is  excellent  in  her  place,  but  she  need  not 
necessarily  come  closely  into  his  own  life.  The  grotesque 
methods  of  the  Suffragettes,  impossible  in  any  other 
country  but  England,  are  largely  due  to  the  curious 
separation  of  the  sexes.  Unaccustomed  to  regard  his 
wife  as  his  intellectual  equal,  and  as  an  intimate  com- 
panion in  all  his  joys  and  sorrows,  the  Englishman  has 
himself  to  thank  if  she,  imbued  with  political  ideas  of 
liberality,  finds  it  incumbent  upon  herself  to  show  her 
strength  to  gain  his  sympathy  and  respect.  By  an  un- 
fortunate provision  of  nature,  or  by  a  fortunate  one,  just 
as  one  regards  it,  the  Englishman  requires  to  have  a  new 
argument  sharply  driven  into  his  head  before  he  compre- 
hends it.  Quickness  in  the  uptake  is  not  a  national 
characteristic.  Innate  conservatism  will  not  allow  us 
readily  to  admit  a  new  position.  From  time  immemorial 
wives  have  been  treated  in  a  certain  way  in  England  ;  it  is 
preposterous  that  they  should  be  treated  in  any  other  way. 
The  Suffragette  movement,  for  instance,  would  be 
handled  in  France  or  in  America  quite  differently  from 
England.  If  there  were  really  a  formidable  feminine 
invasion  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  the  most  persuasive 
Parliamentarian  of  the  moment — some  elegant  Paul 
Deschanel,  or  some  silver-tongued  Aristide  Briand,  would 
meet  the  women  and  speak  them  fair.  At  least  they 
would  have  the  satisfaction  of  a  few  pleasant  words  from 
the  Legislature.  They  would  not  have  found  themselves 
faced  by  a  hard  and  fast  refusal  to  listen  to  their  represen- 
tations. No  French  Premier  would  have  taken  the  un- 
imaginative course  of  Mr.  Asquith,  who  wrapped  himself 
in  an  impenetrable  reserve,  and  finally  turned  the  police, 


SOME   FURTHER   SOCIAL   ASPECTS  85 


horse  and  foot,  at  the  ladies.  The  French  are  quick  to 
see  the  ridiculous  side  of  a  movement  which  consists  in 
ringing  door-bells,  breaking  windows,  and  heckling  Minis- 
ters ;  at  the  same  time,  the  women  would  have  been  treated 
with  marked  deference  and  courtesy;  they  would  have 
been  listened  to  and  their  immediate  grievance  would  have 
been  conjured  away  by  a  little  suave  and  considerate  spokes- 
n^anship.  It  is  one  of  the  fatal  drawbacks  of  the  British 
nature,  that  it  cannot  accept  a  new  fact  gracefully.  The 
new-comer,  the  new  thing,  the  new  proposition,  is  always 
suspect.  The  resentment  of  the  average  Englishman 
towards  the  woman  who  wants  to  vote  is  of  a  piece  with 
his  resentment  against  those  who  want,  say,  to  pierce  a 
tunnel  from  Calais  to  Dover.  Quite  apart  from  the  ques- 
tion whether  women  are  qualified  or  disqualified  for 
Parliamentary  life,  which  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss, 
there  does  remain  the  fact  that  the  demand  for  votes  and 
the  demand  for  sex  equality  in  all  departments  of  human 
endeavour  have  been  accepted  in  a  very  narrow  and  sour 
spirit  of  resentment.  The  conservatism  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  in  declining  to  bestow  upon  women  degrees 
which  they  have  honestly  earned,  the  refusal  of  the  various 
legal  societies  to  admit  members  of  the  sex  to  the  practice 
of  the  law,  though  it  is  to  be  assumed  that,  in  certain 
branches  of  jurisprudence,  they  would  be  admirably 
qualified,  appears  unfair  and  unchivalrous  to  the  Con- 
tinental mind,  particularly  in  an  age  of  new  ideas,  when 
aerial  navigation  is  effacing  territorial  boundaries,  and  when 
insular  prejudices  and  absurd  claims  of  superiority  must 
disappear  before  the  march  of  science  as  mist  before  the  sun. 
We  have  wandered  far  along  the  line  of  the  sex 
question.  I  wished  to  show  that,  to  the  average  Gaul, 
woman  is  the  essential  companion  of  man.  It  is  very 
difficult,  therefore,  to  place  the  Frenchman  and  French- 


86  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

woman  on  exactly  the  same  plane  as  the  Englishman  and 
Englishwoman.  But,  whilst  the  Frenchman  chooses  by- 
instinct  and  preference  his  close  daily  companion  from  the 
other  sex,  his  attitude  towards  her  is  apt  to  be  more 
carnal,  perhaps — less  psychic  and  spiritual — than  that  of 
the  decent-minded  Englishman.  It  is  possible,  as  we  see 
in  America,  for  women  to  be  worshipped  and  placed  upon 
a  pedestal  as  the  incarnation  of  an  ideal,  apart  from  sex ; 
but  such  attitude  of  mind  is  not  comprehended  by  the 
Latins,  who  are  intensely  positive  when  it  comes  to  such 
matters.  Supposed  to  be  endowed  with  sentimentality, 
they  are,  in  many  ways,  less  sentimental  than  the  English. 

I  think  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  French  are,  at  once, 
less  promiscuous,  less  brutal  and  less  egotistical  in  their 
relations  with  their  wives  and  sweethearts,  whilst  the 
Englishman  conducts  his  courtship  with  a  greater  air  of 
detachment,  and  thinks,  as  Marcel  Prevost  said  recently  to 
the  writer,  in  a  wonderful  phrase,  of  "  the  social  repercus- 
sion of  love."  The  so-called  platonic  attitude  is  possible 
with  an  English  husband,  impossible  with  a  French  one. 
The  Frenchman  has  the  faults  and  qualities  of  his  tem- 
perament, and  the  Englishman  the  virtues  of  his. 
Originally  forming  a  warmer  conception  of  woman,  in- 
vesting her  with  more  colour,  and  having  more  tempera- 
ment, the  Frenchman  cannot  adopt  the  cold  and  correct 
attitude  of  esteem  and  respect  which  is  expected,  above 
all,  from  her  husband  by  the  English  spouse.  To  be 
"  respected  "  in  the  English  sense  would,  to  the  French- 
woman, appear  to  symbolize  a  want  of  love. 

The  predominance  of  women  in  the  Frenchman's  life,  is 
one  of  the  greatest  facts  in  the  social  existence.  French- 
women conduct  half  the  business  in  France,  and  are  to  be 
found  at  the  receipt  of  custom  in  most  of  the  industrial 
undertakings  in  Paris  and  the  Provinces.     Woman  is  often 


SOiME   FURTHER  SOCIAL  ASPECTS  87 

the  business  head,  and  possesses  prudence,  judgment,  and 
economy.  The  deficiencies,  from  a  business  point  of  view, 
in  the  French  nature  are  directly  attributable  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  "  Missus."  Like  most  honest  women, 
Madame  Dupont  is  mindful  of  her  pence,  and  thinks  that 
her  lord  and  master  does  enough  spending  on  his  personal 
pleasures  for  the  whole  family.  She  watches  the  out- 
goings with  the  closest  attention  ;  is  exact  and  meticulous 
in  keeping  the  accounts  and  extremely  chary  of  any 
adventure  which  demands  the  risking  of  ready  money. 
The  economical  spirit  is  carried  to  an  absurd  exaggeration, 
sometimes.  Many  a  Frenchman  would  risk  the  loss  of  a 
good  piece  of  business  rather  than  spend  the  ten  centimes 
necessary  to  get  into  postal  touch  with  a  purchaser.  This 
is  the  influence  of  the  woman.  At  the  same  time,  her 
admirable  caution  saves  many  a  business,  indiflerently 
conducted  by  the  man,  from  bankruptcy.  So  the  feminine 
predominance  has  its  good  and  its  bad  aspects. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  that,  whilst  the  young  girl 
is  sheltered  from  contact  with  the  world  by  a  convent 
education,  which  extends  almost  to  the  moment  of  her 
marriage,  she,  as  a  married  woman,  feels  herself  entitled  to 
see  every  side  of  life,  and  becomes,  in  that  respect  cer- 
tainly, more  enfranchised  than  her  English  sister.  There 
are  great  barriers  between  the  married  and  the  un- 
married woman.  This  is  aided  by  laws  as  well  as  social 
customs,  of  which  the  laws  are  but  the  concrete  expres- 
sion. For  instance,  a  married  woman  cannot  hold 
property  without  the  consent  of  her  husband,  neither  can 
she  conduct  the  least  operation,  such  as  buying  and  selling 
of  shares,  without  his  signature.  Until  the  other  day  (as 
I  remark  in  another  chapter)  woman's  interdependence 
went  further  ;  being  married,  she  had  not  the  control  of  her 
own  earnings.     A  Bill  to  establish  this  piece  of  elementary 


88         FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

justice  was  hung  up  in  the  Senate  for  fifteen  years.  Hence, 
it  is  possible  for  a  drunken  and  dissolute  husband  to  live 
upon  and  dissipate  the  earnings  of  his  wife  without  giving 
her  cause  for  legal  complaint.  By  a  recent  measure,  how- 
ever (as  I  show  above),  the  woman  can,  at  the  moment  of 
her  marriage,  secure  some  control  of  her  property  by 
adopting  what  is  known  as  the  system  of  the  "  separation  de 
biens."  Though  in  theory  the  woman  is  completely  sub- 
jected to  the  caprice  of  her  husband,  she  is  in  practice 
likely,  to  a  large  extent,  to  be  economically  independent. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  she  has  a  "  dot "  commensurate 
with  her  position  in  life.  The  much-abused  system  of  the 
"  dot "  has  its  good  points  in  safeguarding  the  dignity  and 
existence  of  the  woman  when  married  life  results  in  failure. 
In  all  these  matters  affecting  the  legal  status  of  the  wife, 
the  tendency,  as  I  have  said  before,  is  to  follow  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  who  devised  the  Married  Women's  Property  Acts. 

It  is  curious  to  reflect  that  whilst  woman  is,  in  certain 
directions,  more  advanced  in  France  than  in  England,  in 
certain  other  directions  she  still  suffers  from  the  disabili- 
ties inflicted  by  Napoleon,  who  based  his  conception  of  the 
privileges  and  position  of  woman  in  human  society  on  the 
Roman  law,  which  treated  her  very  much  as  a  vassal. 
But,  happily,  the  movement  is  towards  her  liberation. 

It  is  an  age  of  feminine  conquest  in  France.  Women 
paint  and  women  sculp  ;  they  write  excellent  books  ;  they 
hold  official  positions  in  literary  and  other  corporative 
societies  ;  they  plead  in  the  Law  courts,  and  they  treat  and 
nurse  the  sick.  Hospital  nursing  is  the  latest  occupation 
that  has  been  made  possible  for  women  of  culture  and 
refinement.  Up  to  the  dispersal  of  the  religious  bodies  in 
France,  the  nursing  of  hospital  patients  was  exclusively 
in  the  hands  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  They  were  very 
zealous  ladies,  admirable  in  their  devotion  to  the  sick  and 
suffering,  but  their  professional  equipment  was  somewhat 


SOME  FURTHER  SOCIAL  ASPECTS  89 

meagre.  It  is  a  tribute  to  French  surgery  and  to  French 
medicine  that  more  patients  did  not  die,  since  they  were 
deprived  of  that  skilled  professional  attendance  which  wins 
half  the  battle  of  recovery.  Except  in  special  cases  of 
authorization,  the  Sisters  have  gone,  and,  in  their  place, 
has  come  the  lay  nurse.  She  began  by  being  a  very  poor 
thing,  a  kind  of  Sairey  Gamp,  with  no  education  either 
professional  or  general — sometimes  with  no  morals  worth 
speaking  about.  Her  one  idea  seemed  to  be  to  bleed  the 
patient — an  expressive  term  which  may  stand  for  her 
notions  of  medical  treatment  as  well  as  her  designs  upon 
the  victim's  pocket.  Unless  this  illiterate  and  rapacious 
creature  were  fed,  she  could  scarcely  be  relied  upon  to  give 
the  commonest  attention.  Her  cruelty  and  indifference 
became  a  byword  and  a  reproach. 

Then  some  of  the  young  doctors  went  to  London,  and 
they  saw  how  matters  were  conducted  in  the  great  hos- 
pitals of  the  metropolis.  They  marvelled  at  the  efficiency 
of  the  British  matron  and  nurse,  real  ministering  angels 
in  their  wards.  The  visitors  returned  to  Paris  converts 
to  the  British  system.  Various  attempts  have  been  made 
during  the  past  few  years  to  replace  Sairey  Gamp  by 
Florence  Nightingale,  by  women  of  real  heart  and  head, 
furnished  with  a  vocation  and  professional  certificates.  At 
the  commencement,  this  commendable  movement  only 
received  the  active  support  of  such  as  were  not  Catholics. 
Protestants  and  Jewesses  wore  the  white  apron  and  simple 
print  dress  of  the  lay  Sister  of  Mercy.  But  the  movement 
spreads;  it  may  capture  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain  one  day. 
Already  ladies  of  aristocratic  family  belong  to  the  Society 
of  the  Red  Cross,  which  nurses  soldiers  on  the  battle-field. 
The  middle  classes  are  already  won  over.  This  is  another  re- 
form which,  springing  from  the  regrettable  warfare  between 
Church  and  State,  has  developed  into  good,  and  has  drawn 
its  best  impulse  from  the  understanding  with  England. 


90  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

The  closing  of  the  nunneries  has  had  another  effect 
than  that  of  causing  the  authorities  to  look  for  lay  nurses. 
It  has  thrust  a  number  of  girls,  otherwise  provided  for, 
upon  the  labour  market.  France  is  essentially  an  agricul- 
tural nation,  and  thirty-five  per  cent  of  its  population  are 
engaged  in  tilling  the  ground  and  reaping  the  fruits 
thereof.  Among  the  peasant  population  a  large  number 
of  young  women  devoted  themselves  to  the  Church.  It 
was  an  easy  way  for  the  small  farmer  to  provide  for  his 
daughters.  Once  they  had  adopted  the  veil,  they  were  off 
his  hands  for  life.  But  the  Associations  Law  of  Waldeck- 
Rousseau  changed  all  this  by  insisting  on  the  registration 
of  the  Orders.  A  large  proportion  of  the  Orders  refused 
to  bow  the  knee  to  civil  authority;  their  establishments 
were  closed  as  a  matter  of  course.  Others  who  asked  for 
authorization  sometimes  found  it  refused  on  one  pretext  or 
another.  So  that  there  resulted  a  large  number  of  persons 
of  all  ages  thrown  suddenly  upon  the  labour  market. 
This  circumstance,  too,  has  had  its  influence  upon 
Feminism,  upon  the  independence  of  woman,  upon  the 
question  of  her  right  to  seek  any  employment  that  may 
appeal  to  her  or  seem  suitable  to  her  abilities. 

The  equal  education  of  the  sexes,  as  in  England,  is 
changing  the  outlook  of  women.  The  girl  from  the  Lycee 
no  longer  dreams  of  Prince  Charming  as  the  only  possible 
escape  from  the  dreary  ennui  of  existence  at  home.  No ; 
she  will  make  her  own  way  in  the  world — her  own  way 
with  the  brains  and  good  health  that  Providence  has 
given  her.  These  things  are  happening  every  day.  The 
outward  sign  of  the  change  is  this  curious  one,  that  girls 
of  sixteen  and  seventeen  often  walk  alone  to  their  classes 
through  the  crowded  streets  of  Paris — a  thing  impossible 
a  few  years  ago,  when  the  governess  or  the  maid  was  the 
essential  attendant  of  the  young  lady. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE    ROLE    OF    POLITICAL   PARTIES 

THOUGH  there  are,  in  the  broadest  sense,  only- 
two  great  parties  in  the  State — those  who 
approve  and  those  who  disapprove  the  Republic 
— the  number  of  subdivisions  is  legion.  One  of  the 
misfortunes  of  the  Parliamentary  rule  in  France  is  the 
absence  of  a  properly  constituted  Opposition,  such  as 
renders  party  government,  on  the  whole,  a  success  in 
England.  Whatever  its  effect  abroad,  absolute  continuity 
of  policy  at  home  means  stagnation.  A  Paris  evening 
paper  of  the  Opposition  recently  compared  the  system 
with  a  pond,  the  waters  of  which  become  dirtier  every 
time  they  are  stirred  up.  Only  the  slightest  current  is 
observable  on  the  surface  of  the  pond,  a  current  that  is 
setting  towards  the  shoal  marked  "Collectivism."  The 
danger  to  be  feared  from  the  absence  of  an  Opposition 
sufficiently  strong  to  criticize  effectively  the  Administration 
is  political  degeneration.  The  party  in  power  becomes 
a  party  of  interests  instead  of  principles.  The  electorate 
and  their  servitors,  the  deputies,  become  demoralized. 
There  being  no  vital  question  to  interest  them — since  with 
an  assured  Government  majority  the  battle  is  won  before 
it  is  delivered — voters  are  principally  concerned  to  obtain 
the  highest  prices  for  their  suffrages.  It  is  a  species  of 
auction,  in  which  the  highest  bidder  carries  off  the  prize. 
Dishonesty  is  encouraged  on  the  part  of  the  deputy,  who 

91 


92         FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

promises  what  cannot  be  fulfilled,  and  greed  on  the  part 
of  the  elector,  whose  eyes  are  turned  covetously  towards 
the  rich  neighbour's  vineyard.  In  the  Chamber  the  bad 
effects  of  government  without  a  powerful  Opposition  are 
seen  in  a  hundred  ways.  Such  scandals  as  the  Wilson 
Affair,  Panama,  and  "  L' Affaire  Duez,"  in  which  vast  sums 
resulting  from  the  winding  up  of  the  property  of  the 
dispersed  Orders  were  spirited  away,  would  have  been 
hardly  possible  had  the  vigilance  of  the  authorities  been 
stimulated  by  a  strong  party  out  of  office.  In  politics,  as 
in  commerce,  competition  means  increased  efficiency  and 
a  constant  effort  towards  improvement.  Instead  of  a 
healthy  play  of  parties,  there  is  the  play  of  intrigue. 
Personal  attacks  undermine  the  prestige  of  Parliament 
and,  at  the  same  time,  bring  into  sharp  conflict  men  of 
the  same  political  school,  whose  efforts  should  have  been 
united  to  forward  some  national  policy.  M.  Clemenceau's 
downfall  from  power,  which  came  at  the  end  of  a  brilliant 
three  years  of  office,  was  due  to  an  envenomed  attack 
upon  M.  Delcasse,  a  politician  of,  practically,  the  same 
group. 

The  defects  of  the  system  seem  to  me  to  be  accentuated 
by  the  stability  of  Parliament  and  the  comparative  in- 
stability of  Governments.  Before  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau 
set  the  fashion  of  three-year  Ministries,  the  average  was 
about  as  many  months,  which  gave  an  immense  zest  to 
the  sport  of  Cabinet-making,  and  promoted  speculation 
amongst  the  "  ministrables."  Personal  intrigues  became 
a  little  too  pronounced.  The  fact  that  the  Parliamentary 
mandate  is  for  four  years,  without  reference  to  the  number 
of  ministries  that  may  exist  during  that  time,  has  the 
grave  disadvantage  of  closing  the  crevices  of  the  Chamber 
against  the  entrance  of  air.  Ventilation  is  not  secured 
by  merely  disturbing   the   vitiated   atmosphere ;    a   new 


.»•**•   ** 


,•  !.V  i  '*• 


THE   ROLE   OF  POLITICAL   PARTIES  93 


supply  must  come  in  from  the  outside.  By  the  fixity  of 
the  Parliamentary  mandate,  a  sense  of  permanence  is 
given,  which  is  bad  for  individual  responsibility.  The 
Government's  proposal  under  the  Briand  Ministry  was  to 
renew  the  Chamber  by  partial  elections  every  year,  in  the 
manner  of  the  Senate,  so  that  two-thirds  remain  whilst 
the  other  third  confronts  the  polls.  This  would  result  in 
a  certain  letting-in  of  air,  and,  at  the  same  time,  avoid  the 
agitation  of  a  general  appeal  to  the  country. 

Elections  of  late  years  in  France  have  exhibited  a 
monotonous  calm,  in  contrast  with  the  violent  movement 
of  other  days.  This  is  due  to  the  causes  I  mention  above 
and  to  the  feeling  of  the  Opposition  that  it  is  useless  to 
kick  against  the  pricks.  The  principle  of  the  Republic  is 
still  challenged  by  a  considerable  portion  of  the  population, 
both  Parisian  and  Provincial,  but  this  resistance  finds 
small  expression  in  the  polling  booths.  There  are  old- 
fashioned  Republicans,  who  regret  the  strenuous  days  of 
the  Affaire,  when  political  passion  rose  to  the  pitch  of 
dividing  families,  cleaving  the  friendship  of  years,  and 
causing  scenes  of  excitement  in  the  streets  of  Paris  un- 
paralleled since  the  Commune.  But  it  is  claimed  that 
much  good  has  resulted  from  this  vast  upheaval,  these 
terrible  wounds  that  a  decade  has  barely  healed.  A 
thunderstorm  was  necessary  to  discharge  the  heavy  clouds. 
Political  faiths  are  reborn  in  intense  political  agitation. 

"  Peace  and  plenty,"  however,  have  their  compensations 
even  for  the  political  idealist.  France  has  suffered 
severely  in  the  past  from  internecine  struggles  which  have 
drained  her  best  blood.  She  has  earned  a  period  of  rest, 
if  it  can  be  secured  without  lethargy.  Some  of  the  good 
effects  of  the  truce  were  seen  in  M.  Briand's  attempts  to 
attract  the  Church  to  the  Republic,  but  I  am  bound  to 
say  that  these  efforts  finally  resulted  in   his  Ministerial 


94  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

defeat.  Yet  the  day  is  perhaps  within  measurable  dis- 
tance when  the  lion  of  the  Republic  shall  lie  down  with 
the  lamb  of  the  Roman  Church  and  there  shall  be  no  more 
allusions  to  "  la  Gueuse  " — "  the  ragged  rascal  " — which  is 
the  disrespectful  name  bestowed  upon  the  present  regime 
by  the  young  men  of  the  Action  Frangaise.  Yet  political 
differences,  notwithstanding  the  overwhelming  verdict  of 
the  polls,  still  run  so  deep  in  France  and  begin  so  early, 
that  the  work  of  pacification  must  occupy  a  generation  or 
two,  if  it  is  ever  really  completed.  This  divergency  of 
opinion  manifests  itself  in  adolescence  and  is  carried 
right  through  life,  notwithstanding  the  close  contact  of 
the  regiment  and  the  promiscuity  of  professional  schools. 
Dupont  and  the  son  of  a  "  particle  "  can  never  see  alike, 
though  they  meet  every  day  in  the  year  on  the  benches  of 
the  lycee,  or  in  the  common  room  of  the  "  caserne."  The 
one  will  consider  the  other  as  hopelessly  retrograde — 
a  fossilized  specimen  of  a  nearly  extinct  species — the 
other  will  look  upon  the  Republican  as  a  common  spolia- 
tor, having  no  grace  of  loyalty  or  honour — a  "terre  a 
terre "  creature  with  no  soul  above  his  material  needs. 
It  is  the  spirit  in  which  Churchmen  and  Nonconformists 
regard  one  another  in  certain  remote  parts  of  England, 
where  no  news  of  the  aeroplane  has  penetrated.  As  Mr. 
Gilbert  Hammerton  says  in  "  French  and  English,"  the 
division  between  Established  and  Free  Churchmen  is 
a  social  one ;  it  is  largely  so  in  the  political  world  in 
France.  The  remnants  of  the  authentic  aristocracy  and 
the  green  shoots  of  the  new  and  artificial  plant  advertise 
their  nobility  by  their  contempt  of  the  Republic.  Anti- 
Republicanism  is  almost  a  certificate  of  origin  and  is  as 
sure  a  passport  to  the  salons  of  the  Champs  Elysees — if 
not  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain — as  an  addiction  to  golf 
and  other  gentleman-like   sports  which   are  part  of  the 


THE   ROLE   OF   POLITICAL  PARTIES  95 

*'chic  anglais."  It  is  a  social  label,  though,  nowadays, 
worth  much  less  than,  say,  ten  years  ago,  when  baby  plots 
were  hatched  in  Paris  drawing-rooms  and  Boulanger  was 
the  potential  Caesar.  A  coup  d'etat,  such  as  Deroulede 
attempted  at  Felix  Faure's  funeral,  when  he  invited  the 
troops  to  march  on  the  Elysee,  for  the  purpose  of  install- 
ing a  dictator,  is  hardly  to  be  contemplated  to-day,  though 
all  things  are  possible  in  a  country  which  has  submitted 
to  such  varieties  of  government,  and  which  possesses  the 
feminine  instinct  of  liking  a  master.  If  the  Man  were  to 
arise,  the  Hour  would  be  born  with  him. 

Meanwhile,  the  Opposition,  such  as  it  is,  is  chiefly  repre- 
sented by  a  Nationalist  party,  which,  though  having  a  per- 
fectly comprehensible  **  raison  d'etre,"  fritters  its  strength 
in  the  vainest  sort  of  party  tactics.  Under  the  flag  of 
Nationalism  marches  the  most  heterogeneous  army.  There 
are  the  Monarchists,  pure  and  simple,  though  it  is  possible 
that  they  deserve  the  latter  rather  than  the  former  adjec- 
tive. Their  hopes  are  set  on  the  return  of  the  Orleans 
family  to  the  throne  of  France.  A  small,  and,  it  is  said, 
a  growing  section  in  France  supports  the  claims  of  Jean 
de  Bourbon,  on  the  ground  that  he  is  the  descendant  of 
Naundorff,  otherwise  the  Seventeenth  Louis,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  escaped  from  the  Temple  during  the  Revo- 
lution. Whatever  truth  there  may  be  in  this  story,  it 
is  fairly  well  established  that  the  Dauphin  did  not  die 
in  prison,  as  his  jailers  recorded.  This  view  is  confirmed 
in  a  voluminous  report  drawn  up  by  M.  Boissy  d'Anglas 
to  the  Senate  in  reply  to  the  petition  of  the  Naundorff 
family  to  be  recognized  as  descendants  of  Louis  XVI. 
The  party,  however,  has  no  official  representative  in 
Parliament.  After  the  Royalists  come  the  Imperialists. 
The  visible  Head  of  the  Bonapartists  is  Prince  Victor 
Napoleon,  now  married  to  Princess  Louise  of  Belgium,  who 


96  FRANCE  AND  THE   FRENCH 

prefers  the  calm  retreat  of  Brussels  to  the  doubtful  experi- 
ment of  a  landing  in  France.  This  party,  which  has  its 
supporters  at  the  polls,  is  weakened  by  internal  dissension. 
Some  hold  that  Louis  Napoleon,  the  younger  son  of 
Jerome  Bonaparte,  and  a  former  general  in  the  Russian 
army,  is  a  fitter  figure  to  typify  the  Napoleonic  legend ; 
but  in  either  case  the  discussion  is  academic. 

A  group  in  Parliament,  which  has  its  organ  in  the 
Press,  has  adopted  the  plebiscitary  Republic  as  a  base  of 
action.  The  people  are  to  elect  the  President  for  life, 
presumably  from  the  House  of  the  great  Emperor,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  they  will,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
vote  for  his  successors ;  they  will,  in  fact,  establish  by 
their  votes  a  new  dynasty.  There  is,  at  first  sight,  some- 
thing attractive  in  the  idea  of  the  people  electing  their 
own  chief  of  state,  instead  of  submitting  to  the  choice  of 
the  National  Assembly,  formed  by  the  union  of  the 
Chamber  and  Senate.  But  it  is  apparent  that  such  a 
system  offers  few  constitutional  guarantees.  The  life 
President  may  transform  himself  at  any  moment  into  Dic- 
tator or  Emperor,  and  the  example  of  the  Third  Napoleon 
has  taught  the  French  the  ease  of  the  process.  Other 
groups  of  Nationalists  present  other  patterns  of  Republics, 
but  they  are  alike  in  being  extremely  vague.  The  present 
system,  with  its  impersonal  President,  chosen  for  his 
colourless  qualities  and  lack  of  ambition,  is  open  to  criti- 
cism, but  the  alternative  plans  are  distinguished  neither 
for  cogency  nor  for  affording  any  prospect  of  amelioration. 
Much  might  be  done,  as  I  suggest  in  my  first  chapter, 
by  electing  a  younger  President  who  would  play  the  part 
assigned  to  him  by  the  Constitution  with  greater  energy ; 
but  the  French  have  a  justifiable  horror  of  the  "strong 
man."  Experience  has  taught  them  so  rude  a  lesson  that 
they  have  imposed  the  greatest  restrictions  upon  the  office 


THE   ROLE    OF   POLITICAL   PARTIES  97 

of  President.  He  has  not  the  slightest  power  in  internal 
affairs,  and  cannot,  on  his  own  initiative,  remove  even  a 
"  sous-prefet."  Outside  his  purely  representative  capacity, 
he  has  one  shadowy  privilege  of  royalty :  the  right  to  sign 
treaties.  But  his  responsibility  is  covered  here,  as  in  other 
matters,  by  his  Ministers,  who  are  answerable  to  Parlia- 
ment. The  abolition  of  President  and  Senate  was  in- 
scribed on  the  Radical  programme  as  a  necessary  reform 
— so  little  use  was  either  institution  considered  to  be  in 
a  growing  democracy — and  though  we  have  heard  little 
of  the  project  during  the  last  few  years,  it  remains  in 
some  form  or  other.  One  reason  why  it  has  not  attained 
the  honours  of  a  practical  question  is  the  realization  that 
the  Senate  has  proved  really  Republican,  whilst  the  office 
of  President  has,  after  all,  its  uses.  It  is  difficult  to  see 
how  a  headless  system  would  work  in  times  of  crisis. 
Who  would  summon  the  chiefs  of  parties  to  form  a 
Cabinet,  and  who,  again,  would  offer  official  hospitality  to 
the  guests  of  the  nation  when  there  was,  theoretically 
speaking,  no  Government  at  all?  The  proposition  to 
guillotine  the  President  may,  therefore,  be  considered 
premature — like  the  announcement  of  a  certain  humorist's 
demise. 

The  Centre  gathers  to  itself  the  most  staid  and  respect- 
able elements  of  Republican  opinion.  Men  of  the  stamp  of 
M.  Alexandre  Ribot  have  unblemished  political  records, 
and  express,  in  their  own  persons,  the  solid  Bourgeois 
sentiment  of  the  country.  Socialism  they  hold  in  horror  : 
their  greatest  fault  is  the  Bourgeois  fault  of  lack  of  courage. 
The  unfortunate  phrase  of  M.  Ribot,  when,  as  Premier,  he 
was  asked  to  sanction  the  revision  of  the  Dreyfus  case  : 
"  C'est  une  chose  jugee  "  was  the  death-knell  of  his  party 
and  of  his  own  success  as  Parliamentarian.  It  had  as 
unfortunate  a  vogue,  and  very  much  the  same  effect,  as 
7 


98  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

M.  Emile  Ollivier's  famous  "coeur  leger."  "We  enter 
upon  the  war,"  he  said — speaking  in  the  Chamber  on  the 
eve  of  the  Franco-Prussian  campaign — "with  a  light 
heart."  As  historian  of  the  Second  Empire,  M.  Ollivier,- 
should  have  known  the  folly  of  prediction.  The  Progressist 
or  Opportunist  group  (as  the  old  name  is)  has  given  men 
like  Thiers  and  Gambetta  to  the  Republic ;  but  to-day  it 
has  ceased  to  take  a  leading  part  in  the  Administration. 
Its  influence  is  no  longer  progressive  and  it  is  certainly  not 
Opportunist ;  it  is  simply  steadying  and  stationary.  Its 
counterpart  in  English  politics  is  the  Whigs ;  like  them, 
the  Progressists  have  had  their  day,  even  if  they  have  not 
ceased  to  be.  The  political  axis  has  shifted  ;  the  Centre 
does  not  count  any  more,  except  as  a  make-weight. 
Parliamentary  life  and  individuality  reside  in  the  Left. 
The  Socialists  are  the  candid  friends  of  the  Radicals,  who 
turn  and  rend  them  on  occasion.  Historic  are  the  fights 
between  M.  Clemenceau  and  M.  Jean  Jaures,  leader  of  the 
Parliamentary  Socialists.  Though  the  Mayor  of  Mont- 
martre  during  the  Commune,  M.  Clemenceau  stood  forth, 
thirty  years  later,  as  the  champion  of  the  middle  classes, 
and,  from  the  height  of  the  tribune,  hurled  his  fiercest 
invective  against  M.  Jaures,  as  the  head  and  front  of 
Socialist  offending.  M.  Clemenceau's  oratorical  manner 
reminded  one  of  shrapnel  bursting  in  a  plain  peopled  by 
the  enemy.  Every  bullet  had  its  billet.  Notwithstanding 
great  vigour  of  expression,  M.  Jaures,  on  the  other  hand, 
contrived  to  combine  poetry  and  imagery  in  his  astonishing 
verbosity.  These  rhetorical  outbursts  constituted  the 
Marathon  of  the  Bourgeois  and  Socialistic  hosts. 

The  moment  had  come  for  a  truce,  and  the  Parliamentary 
flag  was  borne  by  M.  Briand.  As  a  sign  of  peace,  he  took 
two  Socialists  into  his  first  Cabinet.  He  declared  that  he 
himself,  notwithstanding  the  responsibilities  of  office,  had 


THE   ROLE   OF   POLITICAL   PARTIES  99 

not  changed  his  views.  "  Je  me  suis  adapte  a  ma  fonction," 
he  exclaimed.  "  Je  viens  a  vous  tel  que  je  suis,  tel  que 
vous  me  connaissez,"  he  said,  in  his  own  constituency  of 
St.  Chamond,  four  years  after  having  reached  Ministerial 
rank.  Finally,  there  was  the  fact  that  M.  Jaures  had 
alienated  sympathy  by  failing  to  dissociate  himself  from 
the  anti-militarist  doctrines  of  M.  Gustave  Herve.  Hence, 
it  became  a  comparatively  easy  task  to  govern  with  the 
aid  of  these  hitherto  redoubtable  allies,  until  other  events 
— the  strike  of  the  railway  men  in  the  autumn  of  19 10 — 
caused  them  to  be  cast  out,  that  the  bourgeois  strength  of 
the  Cabinet  might  be  renewed.  In  his  early  contact  with 
Socialism,  M.  Briand  had  learned  the  supreme  arts  of 
political  dominance. 

The  most  active  work  has  been  done  by  the  Radical- 
Socialists  during  the  past  few  years.  This  formidable 
name  was  evolved  by  certain  members  of  the  Left, 
including  M.  Clemenceau — who  was  the  godfather,  though 
afterwards  he  disowned  his  "proteges."  It  was  realized 
that  the  day  was  to  the  Extremists.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  conciliate  the  two  wings  of  the  Left :  a  sop  to  the 
Socialist  Cerberus,  and  a  guarantee  to  the  Moderate 
Republicans.  The  essential  difference  between  the 
Socialists  and  the  Radical-Socialists  is  the  adhesion  of 
the  latter  to  the  principle  of  individual  ownership — all 
the  difference  in  the  world,  in  fact.  If  the  tendency  is  for 
Parliamentary  Socialists  to  become  absorbed  by  the 
advanced  Republican  parties,  the  general  attitude  of  the 
Left  is  affected  by  its  contact  with  Collectivists  and 
the  disciples  of  Karl  Marx. 

Whilst  there  are  signs  that  the  country  likes  its  politics 
plain,  the  set-back  to  the  Radical-Socialist  party  in  the 
elections  of  1910  only  resulted  in  the  loss  of  twenty  seats, 
which  is  hardly  perceptible  as  a  national  movement. 


loo  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

We  have,  then,  the  Royalists  and  the  various  classes  of 
Conservatives,  including  the  Rallies,  or  Catholics,  who 
adopted  the  Republican  idea,  with  more  or  less  sincerity, 
on  the  advice  of  Pope  Leo  XIII;  the  old-fashioned 
Republicans  of  the  type  of  1870;  the  Radicals  and  the 
Radical-Socialists — now  hardly  to  be  distinguished  since 
the  party  has  drawn  its  chief  strength  from  the  Radicals 
— and  the  Socialists  of  varying  hue,  from  Revolutionary 
red  until  they  merge  into  the  comparatively  sober  tints  of 
advanced  constitutionalists. 

To  the  Radicals  is  due  the  constructive  statesmanship 
of  the  past  few  years.  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau,  one  of  the 
ablest  of  modern  statesmen,  is  the  father  of  that  policy 
which  revenged  the  Affaire  Dreyfus  by  laying  low  the 
Church.  His  Associations  Law  marked  a  new  epoch. 
The  war  was  carried  into  the  enemies'  camp.  The  Re- 
ligious Orders  were  forced  to  register  or  leave  the  country. 
M.  Emile  Combes  proved  a  ruthless  successor,  showing 
true  iconoclastic  zeal  in  driving  out  the  Sisters  from 
districts  where  they  had  laboured  for  years,  in  the  service 
of  the  poor,  without  fee  or  reward.  These  proceedings 
raised  very  little  protest  in  the  country,  though  fair- 
minded  persons  regretted  their  harshness.  It  seemed  that 
the  majority  of  the  citizens  had  made  up  their  minds  that 
such  measures  were  necessary  in  the  interests  of  the 
Republic.  Later,  when  the  Law  of  Separation,  the  great 
work  of  M.  Briand,  was  voted  by  the  Legislature,  the 
operation  of  divorce  was  carried  out  with  the  minimum 
of  disturbance.  Politicians  had  judged  accurately  the 
moment  to  effect  a  change  of  this  sort,  and  had  realized 
that  the  old  religious  feeling,  if  not  dead,  was,  at  least, 
incapable  of  inspiring  a  widespread  revolt. 

It  is  true  that  the  taking  of  the  inventories,  declared  to 
be    a    necessary    preliminary   to    the    formation    of   the 


THE   HOLE   OF  POLITICAL   PARTIES  loi 

Associations  Cultuelles  (the  new  style  of  vestries  prescribed 
by  the  Act),  inspired  some  animated  incidents  in  Parisian 
and  country  churches,  the  Faithful  being  under  the  im- 
pression that  an  act  of  confiscation  was  about  to  be 
perpetrated  :  nor  is  this  frame  of  mind  to  be  wondered  at, 
seeing  the  revelations  of  the  Affaire  Duez.  But,  speaking 
generally,  one  can  but  marvel  at  the  quietude  with  which 
was  effected  one  of  the  most  daring  reforms  yet  attempted 
by  the  party  of  democratic  progress  in  France. 

The  Combes  Ministry  had  the  misfortune  to  attract  to 
itself  two  Ministers  of  the  type  of  General  Andre  and 
Camille  Pelletan.  During  General  Andre's  stay  at  the 
Ministry  of  War,  the  spying  and  informing  scandal  rose 
to  its  full  height  and  led  to  an  exposure  and  a  sensational 
scene  in  Parliament,  in  which  the  General's  face  was 
struck  by  the  Nationalist  deputy  Gabriel  Syveton,  of 
malodorous  memory.  It  was  then  shown  that  the  religious 
and  political  opinions  of  officers  were  carefully  noted  and 
judgment  passed  upon  them  by  the  local  Lodge  of  Free- 
masons. It  was  the  reversion  of  the  system  under  the 
Second  Empire,  whereby  officers  who  did  not  attend 
Mass  found  their  way  barred  to  promotion.  In  the  Navy, 
directed  by  M.  Pelletan,  similar  sectarian  influences  were 
at  work.  Quarter-decks  were  swept  with  a  vigorous 
Republican  broom  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  Arsenal 
hands  had  every  favour  shown  them  and  were  allowed  to 
form  a  trade  union.  From  M.  Pelletan's  time  dates  the 
decadence  of  the  Fleets  of  France. 

His  theory  was  that  the  days  of  big  battleships  were 
over,  and  that  France  should  rely  on  her  under-water  fleet 
and  torpedo  boats.  The  Admiralissimo  was  certainly 
successful  in  sending  more  ships  to  the  bottom  than  any 
of  his  predecessors  at  the  Rue  Royale,  thus  confirming  his 
opinion  that  the  future  of  France  lay  not  upon  the  water, 


102  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

but  below  it.  From  being  the  second  naval  power  in  the 
world,  France  fell  to  the  fifth  place,  below  Japan ;  but 
M.  Pelletan  could  still  console  himself  with  the  thought 
that  his  country  occupied  the  same  naval  plane  as  Chili 
and  Brazil.  One  wonders  what  would  have  been  the 
reflections  of  the  great  Colbert,  the  organizer  of  the 
modern  French  navy,  could  he  have  seen  M.  Pelletan  at 
work  at  his  own  gilded  table  in  the  Ministry  of  the 
Marine. 

M.  Thompson  strove  heroically  to  clean  the  Augean 
stables  of  M.  Pelletan.  If  the  task  was  beyond  him  and 
beyond  M.  Picard,  who  succeeded,  it  is  because  political 
tendencies  are  stronger  than  individual  reformers.  M. 
Pelletan's  theories  harmonized  with  those  of  the  party  in 
office,  principally  because  they  were  cheap ;  it  was  re- 
served for  Admiral  Boue  de  Lapeyrere,  the  Minister  of 
Marine  under  the  first  and  second  Briand  Ministries,  to 
effect  a  re-establishment,  in  attenuated  form,  of  the  Pro- 
gramme Maritime  of  M.  de  Lanessan,  which  stipulated  for 
the  building  of  so  many  ships  a  year. 

If  M.  Combes  considered  that  he  had  come  to  bring  not 
peace  but  a  sword,  his  record  justified  his  pretensions. 
But  the  active  sectarian  spirit  passed  with  him ;  even 
Freemasonry  is  no  longer  heard  of  as  the  sinister  and 
occult  power  behind  the  Republic.  A  new  era  is  dawning, 
represented  by  conciliation  and  the  representation  of 
minorities. 

The  politician  who  emerges  with  greatest  distinctness 
from  the  Parliamentary  arena  is  M.  Delcass^,  who,  for  many 
years,  conducted  the  foreign  policy  of  his  country  from  the 
Quai  d'Orsay  with  the  greatest  ability  and  tact.  His  dis- 
missal from  office,  at  the  bidding  of  Germany,  constitutes 
a  humiliating  page  in  modern  French  history.  His  attach- 
ment to  England  was  conspicuous  during  his  tenure  of 


THE   ROLE  OF   POLITICAL   PARTIES  103 

office,  and,  in  conjunction  with  M.  Paul  Cambon,  he 
worked  hard  for  the  Entente  Cordiale,  realizing  that  the 
"  contrepoids  "  of  the  Triple  Alliance  was  an  understand- 
ing with  England  on  the  one  hand  and  the  compact  with 
Russia  on  the  other.  Subsequent  events  have  fully  con- 
firmed his  contention  that  a  new  "triplice"  would  main- 
tain the  balance  of  power,  more  especially  as  it  has  been 
further  strengthened  by  an  Anglo-Russian  rapprochement. 
M.  Delcasse's  career  in  the  Chamber,  since  his  retirement 
from  the  Quai  d'Orsay,  at  the  instance  of  M.  Rouvier,  has 
been  marked  by  great  public  activity.  He  intervened  with 
dramatic  effect  in  a  great  debate  on  Morocco,  vindi- 
cating his  policy  against  the  attacks  of  M.  Jaures  ;  he 
proved  to  be  the  "tombeur"  of  M.  Clemenceau  when 
the  latter,  forgetting  his  dignity  as  Prime  Minister,  made 
an  ungenerous  onslaught  upon  the  ex-Foreign  Minister; 
and,  earlier  in  the  Clemenceau  Administration,  he  had 
driven  M.  Thompson  from  his  post  of  Minister  of  Marine 
in  the  name  of  national  efficiency.  When  the  advent  of 
the  Monis  Administration  brought  M.  Delcasse  again  to 
Ministerial  rank,  he  presided,  fittingly,  over  the  great 
Department  of  the  Rue  Royale. 

M.  Henri  Brisson,  President  of  the  Chamber,  M.  Poin- 
care,  M.  Sarrien,  and  M.  Leon  Bourgeois  are  types  of 
Radicals  who  have  considerable  influence  in  the  corridors 
of  Parliament  if  their  voices  are  not  often  heard  in  debate. 
M.  Bourgeois  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  members  of  the 
Radical  party,  and  his  speeches  at  the  Conference  of  the 
Hague,  whither  he  went  as  delegate  of  France,  in  com- 
pany with  the  Baron  d'Estournelles  de  Constant,  brought 
him  the  respectful  attention  of  Europe.  M.  Sarrien  is  a 
powerful  party  wire-puller,  whose  influence  is  great,  both 
in  the  Senate,  of  which  body  he  is  a  member,  and  the 
Chamber. 


I04  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

Of  the  younger  men,  M.  Paul  Deschanel  has  a  great 
reputation  as  an  orator  of  distinction,  who  at  one  time 
seemed  destined  for  the  highest  position  in  the  State.  If 
he  has  not  realized  the  expectations  of  his  friends,  it  is 
because  of  some  suspicion  that  he  flirts  with  Reaction. 
Possessing  a  cachet  of  elegance,  he  is  sometimes  referred 
to  as  the  Beau  Brummel  of  the  Chamber.  Paul  Doumer 
is  a  politician  of  another  stamp.  He  is  of  the  self-made 
type,  Rooseveltian  in  his  energy.  Having  been  President 
of  the  Chamber  and  Governor  of  Cochin  China,  he  now 
aims  at  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic.  He  is  one  of  the 
most  strenuous  and  useful  members  in  the  Chamber, 
feared,  perhaps,  because  supposed  to  be  endowed  with 
ambition;  but,  alas!  the  elections  of  1910  sent  him  into 
retirement— a  Cincinnatus  returned  to  the  plough.  M. 
Etienne  is,  likewise,  a  politician  of  great  energy  and  in- 
dependence of  character.  He  is  the  organizer  of  the 
present  Colonial  Office  system  in  France,  which  owes  its 
inspiration  to  Mr.  Chamberlain,  when  British  Minister  of 
Colonies.  M.  Etienne  is,  in  fact,  a  Radical  with  Imperial 
notions. 

The  Right  does  not  contain  a  vast  amount  of  oratorical 
ability  or  of  that  sort  of  magnetism  which  sways  an 
assembly.  There  are  few  commanding  figures.  One  of 
the  most  esteemed  and  useful  members  is  the  Abbe 
Lemire,  who  has  associated  himself  with  legislation 
having  a  moralizing  influence.  His  principal  work  has 
been  the  introduction  of  a  law  to  facilitate  marriage. 
The  Marquis  de  Dion  is  one  of  the  prominent  figures  of 
the  Church  party,  and  is  also  well  known  as  a  sportsman. 
M.  Maurice  Barres  is  the  type  of  novelist  turned  politician. 
In  the  Chamber  he  is  what  is  distinctively  called  a  Na- 
tionalist, that  is,  a  Republican  of  the  Opposition,  though 
the  term  has  now  come  to  embrace  all  those  who  oppose 


THE   ROLE   OF   POLITICAL   PARTIES  105 

the  Radical-Socialist  Government.  He  shows  himself  a 
very  active  member  of  one  of  the  circonscriptions  of 
Paris,  interesting  himself  in  commercial  and  municipal 
questions.  In  his  books  he  evokes  the  old  France ;  it  is 
not  surprising,  therefore,  that  his  politics  should  be  tinged 
by  the  party  which  has  associated  itself  with  "la  Re- 
vanche" and  the  Souvenir.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the 
Right,  as  at  present  constituted,  has  any  great  chance  of 
utility.  By  mere  weight  of  circumstances,  it  is  condemned 
to  an  ineffectual  protest. 

In  the  Senate,  one  of  the  picturesque  figures  is  M. 
Clemenceau,  now  resting  upon  his  spear  after  strenuous 
days  as  breaker  of  Cabinets,  and  then  as  Prime  Minister. 
His  career,  like  his  temperament,  has  been  impulsive  and 
full  of  passionate  moments.  Aristocratic  by  birth  and 
sympathy,  he  has  become  democratic  by  conviction.  In 
him  is  seen  a  representative  of  the  old  school  of  Republican, 
of  which  another  example,  outside  Parliament,  and  quite 
different  in  his  later  development,  is  M.  Henri  Rochefort, 
the  vitriolic  polemist  of  other  days,  and  still  something  of 
a  force  in  a  green  old  age.  Baron  and  Senator  d'Estour- 
nelles  de  Constant  is  probably  known  to  a  larger  number 
of  Englishmen  than  any  other  contemporary  Frenchman. 
This  is  due  to  the  active  part  he  has  taken  in  the  promotion 
of  arbitration  and  of  friendship  between  the  nations. 
M.  Emile  Combes  is  largely  responsible  for  throwing  light 
upon  the  dark  places  of  the  liquidation  of  the  property  of 
the  Orders ;  Senator  Berenger  is  famous  for  his  Loi 
Berenger,  or  First  Offenders  Act,  whilst  General  Mercier 
recalls  the  "Affaire"  and  those  who  accused  the  Jewish 
officer.  He  was  Minister  of  War  at  the  moment  of  the 
condemnation  of  Dreyfus  by  the  first  court-martial. 

Debates  in  the  Senate  are  generally  conducted  in  an 
atmosphere  of  calm,  but,  in  either  Chamber,  it  is  rare  to 


io6        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

find  the  somnolence  that  occasionally  descends  upon  the 
British  Houses  of  Parliament.  The  venerable  joke  of 
Punch,  the  "  Hattitude  of  the  House,"  would  have  no 
application  at  the  Palais  Bourbon,  where  there  is  no 
opportunity  for  "  forty  winks  "  under  the  sheltering  brim  of 
the  top-hat.  Only  the  President  wears  a  top-hat,  and  that 
as  a  sign  that,  for  some  extraordinary  reason,  the  sitting  is 
suspended.  The  tendency  is  towards  an  exaggerated 
display  of  energy.  If  incidents  arise  with  too  regrettable 
a  frequency  for  the  dignity  of  the  Chamber,  the  ordinary 
Frenchman  protests  that  it  is  of  minor  importance.  What 
does  it  matter  to  him  if  the  Parliamentary  machine  creaks 
more  or  less  ?  The  essential  is  that  it  shall  do  what  it  is 
required  to  do.  Without  staying  to  discuss  whether  or  not 
the  Chamber  fulfils  its  mission,  one  may  hazard  the  opinion 
that  the  mere  solemnity  of  an  assembly  may  be  hurtful  to 
its  democratic  utility.  The  old-fashioned  procedure  of  the 
House  of  Commons  is,  probably,  an  obstacle  rather  than  an 
aid  to  business.  Is  there  not  something  tragically  futile 
in  the  attention  paid  to  wigs  and  swords  while  the  Empire 
is  falling  to  pieces  ?  As  to  Parliamentary  manners,  is  it 
better  that  a  man  should  sleep  or  indulge  in  Billingsgate  ? 
The  latter  course  has,  at  any  rate,  more  imagination  in  it. 

Oratory,  notwithstanding  the  occasional  explosions  of 
bad  temper — and  bad  language — is  on  a  higher  level  in  the 
French  Chambers  than  at  Westminster.  Frenchmen  are 
born  orators  ;  moreover,  the  discourse  is  generally  written, 
whereas  in  the  House  of  Commons  extemporization  is  the 
rule  and,  indeed,  is  required  by  the  Standing  Orders.  For 
order  and  arrangement,  the  speeches  to  be  heard  any  day 
from  the  tribune  of  the  Chamber  are  infinitely  superior  to 
the  formless,  disjointed,  and  conversational  efforts  of  British 
members  of  Parliament.  The  mere  fact  that  they  speak 
from  their  places  destroys  the  effect  of  a  prepared  oration 


THE   ROLE   OF   POLITICAL   PARTIES  107 

whilst  it  increases  the  impression  of  an  impromptu  debate. 
Rhetoric  plays  the  preponderant  part  in  France,  whereas 
the  English  Parliamentary  maxim  would  seem  to  be : 
matter  first  and  manner  nowhere.  This  attention  to  form 
is  characteristic  of  French  art  and  literature  and  intellectual 
effort  generally.  Few  public  speeches  in  England  bear 
witness  to  the  zealous  search  for  the  "  mot  juste,"  which 
distinguishes  the  most  trivial  utterances  in  France,  with  a 
resultant  loss,  sometimes,  of  spontaneity  and  originality, 
and  a  gain  in  grace  and  literary  perfection. 

Other  considerations  would  be  less  flattering  to  French 
Parliamentary  methods.  Whilst  eloquence  is  commoner, 
and  an  amazing  amount  of  research  and  mastery  of  detail 
go  to  the  making  of  Committee  reports,  the  general  level 
of  Parliamentary  achievement  is  no  doubt  lower  than  across 
the  Channel — an  achievement,  that  is,  represented  by  the 
Statute  book.  Bills  are  often  badly  drawn,  with  the  result 
that  they  are  stultified  in  practice.  An  instance  in  point 
is  the  Weekly  Rest  Act,  which  was  so  imperfect  in  its 
provisions  that  riots  resulted.  It  was  afterwards  modified 
so  as  to  remove  its  inequalities.  Legislative  incoherence 
springs  from  the  Chamber's  reluctance  to  take  advice,  and 
its  reliance  upon  the  Conseil  d'Etat  to  interpret  the  clauses 
of  new  measures.  The  successful  practitioner  is  generally 
not  available  for  consultation  within  the  body  of  legislators, 
as  is  the  case  in  England,  where  a  Parliamentary  career 
occupies  the  mature  energies  of  wealthy  men  of  affairs  and 
property-owners.  The  ordinary  type  of  French  represen- 
tative is  notoriously  one  who  has  failed  in  the  exercise  of  a 
profession,  though  this  is  somewhat  less  true  to-day  than 
formerly. 

But  the  prevailing  symptoms  of  the  time  point  to  the 
failure  of  Parliament  in  France.  This  is  not  merely  due 
to  the  stagnation  brought  about  by  the  absence  of  a  real 


io8  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

Opposition  or  of  any  burning  party  issues,  but  to  the 
growing  conviction  of  the  people  that  no  hope  lies  in 
legislation.  Real  reform  is  to  be  effected  by  economic 
and  extra-Parliamentary  means.  There  is  apparently 
little  more  to  be  done  by  the  ordinary  type  of  legislation. 
Perhaps  the  future  will  contain  some  scheme  for  giving 
Labour  a  larger  share  of  Capital.  It  is  in  this  field  that 
political  doctors  must  seek  their  remedies  in  future.  The 
avarice  of  the  Bourgeois,  the  tyranny  of  the  middle- 
class  oligarchy,  is  as  likely  (other  things  being  equal)  to 
inspire  revolution  as  the  old  oppression  of  the  aristocrats. 
Thus,  the  role  of  political  parties  is  likely  to  undergo 
considerable  change,  even  if  one  does  not  believe  that 
Parliament  will  presently  transform  itself  into  an  assem- 
blage of  Trade  Unions. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE   CHURCH   AND   CLERICALISM 

WHEN  Napoleon,  a  hundred  years  ago,  acting 
with  gentle  persuasiveness  on  the  Pope, 
Pius  VII,  caused  him  to  put  his  signature  to 
a  Concordat,  he  realized  how  necessary  the  union  of 
Church  and  State  was,  how  necessary  that  the  Church 
should  obey  the  State,  and  yet  represent  in  itself  the 
spirit  of  organized  religion  with  its  ceremonials  and 
sanctity,  and  its  catalogue  of  restraints.  The  great 
Emperor  saw  that  the  mass  of  the  people  required  re- 
ligion ;  that  it  was  a  powerful  factor  in  governments ; 
that  when  the  Church  was  overthrown,  ideals  were  over- 
thrown at  the  same  time.  Liberty  spelt  anarchy,  and 
anarchy  threatened  the  life  of  the  Empire.  It  was  from 
purely  material  motives  that  he  invited  the  Church  back 
again  to  France  and  sought  and  obtained  the  Papal  bless- 
ing on  his  own  reign.  Elsewhere,  we  relate  how,  by  a  rude 
gesture,  he  took  the  crown  from  the  Pope's  hands  and 
placed  it  upon  his  own  head.  This  was  characteristic  of 
the  man,  of  his  authoritative  disposition.  The  Concordat 
stipulated  that  the  archbishops  and  bishops,  cures  de 
canton  and  simple  cur^s,  were  to  be  paid  a  certain  yearly 
stipend  out  of  State  funds.  The  provision  was  not  a 
liberal  one.  Parish  priests  were  passing  rich  on  £40  a 
year,  and  the  princes  of  the  Church  had  guaranteed  to 
them  the  salary  of  a  bank  clerk  in  England.     But  they 

109 


no        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

were  under  the  thumb  of  the  State,  removable  if  they 
misbehaved.  Each  bishop  owed  his  appointment  to  a 
double  assent :  the  assent  of  the  Papal  Court  and  that  of 
the  French  Government.  For  long  this  compact  subsisted 
with  more  or  less  success.  The  Church  continued  to 
exist  and  to  do  its  work  in  France,  and  its  priests  came  to 
regard  themselves  as  "  fonctionnaires,"  more  concerned, 
perhaps,  with  their  official  than  with  their  spiritual  office. 
In  country  districts,  especially,  they  exhibited  a  slothful 
disposition,  or  they  became  estranged  from  their  flock  and 
attached  themselves  to  the  chateau,  whence  radiated 
patronage  and  a  solid  hospitality.  They  became  impreg- 
nated, no  doubt,  with  retrograde  principles. 

Under  the  Second  Empire  the  Church  obtained  a  great 
hold.  It  had  its  say  in  every  Government  post.  When  a 
functionary  was  promoted,  he  owed  his  preferment,  prob- 
ably, to  the  fact  that  his  attendance  at  Mass  had  been 
noted,  and  that  he  was  supposed  to  be  "  bien  pensant." 
He  had  taken  care  that  his  wife  and  children  were  constant 
at  the  church.  This  spirit  not  only  prevailed  in  the  Civil 
Service,  but  also  in  the  Army  and  Navy.  A  man  who 
married  a  good  Catholic,  and  who  was  thought  well  of  by 
the  bishop,  stood  an  excellent  chance  of  advancement. 
The  famous  Pere  Dulac  conducted  a  school  in  the  Rue  des 
Postes,  whence  issued  the  most  successful  officers  in  the 
Army.  Such  an  educational  origin  was  a  certificate  of 
character  and  a  passport  to  Imperial  favour.  Men  of  a 
known  Free-thinking  and  Republican  tendency  were 
correspondingly  made  to  feel  that  their  position  was  not 
worth  much,  and  that  the  avenue  of  progress  was  closed 
to  them. 

This  was  the  state  of  affairs  under  the  Second  Empire, 
until  the  war  with  Prussia  came  and  shattered  everything 
— shattered  the  golden  dream  of  those  who  supposed  that 


THE   CHURCH   AND   CLERICALISM  iii 

the  Throne  and  Altar  were  for  ever  established  in  France. 
The  National  Assembly,  meeting  in  Versailles,  was  clearly 
Monarchical  in  sympathy.  The  majority  favoured  a  return 
to  Monarchy,  but,  unfortunately,  that  majority  was  split 
up  into  individually  impotent  fragments — Legitimists, 
Orleanists,  Bonapartists,  and  partisans  of  the  Plebiscite. 
Since  they  had  no  cohesion,  they  could  effect  nothing. 
They  waited  for  the  Comte  de  Chambord,  but  the  Pretender 
never  came.  He  failed  at  the  critical  moment,  and  the 
Republic  was  established  in  his  stead.  Chambord,  it  is 
assumed,  was  not  anxious,  personally,  for  the  Throne ;  he 
had  no  children,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  play  into  the 
hands  of  the  cadet  branch  of  the  Bourbons,  whom  he 
had  never  forgiven  for  the  part  it  played  in  the  Revolu- 
tion of  1830.  By  reason  of  his  abstention,  the  Third 
Republic  arose. 

Marshal  MacMahon  and  his  immediate  successors 
maintained  an  attitude  of  benevolent  neutrality  towards 
the  Church,  but  it  was  apparent  to  Republican  leaders 
of  that  time  that  the  Catholics  were  leaning  towards  the 
Throne  and  were  plotting  in  secret  for  the  Restoration. 
"  Le  Clericalisme,  voila  I'ennemi."  The  famous  "  mot "  of 
Gambetta  rang  through  the  country  like  a  war  cry.  It 
did  not  have  the  wide  significance  in  its  original  applica- 
tion that  was  afterwards  given  to  it — as  an  excuse  for  a 
propaganda  against  the  priests — but  it  undoubtedly  meant 
that  the  great  Republican  tribune  saw  in  the  Church,  or  an 
extreme  wing  of  it,  the  symbol  of  the  Reactionary  Move- 
ment. 

Years  afterwards,  when  the  Affaire  Dreyfus  burst  upon 
the  country,  the  prediction  of  Gambetta  came  to  have  a 
new  and  sinister  meaning.  Whilst  it  seems  certain  that 
General  Mercier,  then  Minister  of  War,  originally  believed 
the  Jewish  officer  to  be  guilty  of  treason,  it  is  also  clear 


112  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

that  the  moment  the  case  became  a  question  of  poh'tics, 
blind  prejudice  obscured  the  real  issues.  The  Affaire  be- 
came, not  merely  a  "  cause  cdlebre "  in  which  the  guilt 
or  innocence  of  one  man  was  at  stake,  but  the  battle- 
ground of  the  Church  or  Reactionary  parties  and  Anti- 
Clericalism  as  the  express  image  of  the  Republic. 
Through  the  years  of  this  vast  agitation  the  Church  was 
exhibited  in  an  unfavourable  light.  She  was  shown  as  a 
conspirator  working  in  the  dark  to  undermine  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Republic.  With  an  angry  energy,  the  Repub- 
licans fought  tooth  and  nail  for  their  ideal  and  swore  eter- 
nal vengeance  against  the  occult  power  which  threatened 
their  constitutional  existence.  It  was  the  time  of  trial :  it 
was  the  Armageddon,  with  Progress  ranged  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Reaction  on  the  other.  Whatever  one's  sym- 
pathy for  the  Church  as  a  restraining  and  civilizing  in- 
fluence, one  must  admit  that,  in  this  amazing  and  tumul- 
tuous case,  the  French  Catholics  exhibited  an  unholy  haste 
to  convict  the  victim,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  deliver  a 
blow  at  their  political  enemy. 

When  Dreyfus  was  found  guilty  for  the  second  time, 
Christendom  execrated  the  judges  with  an  impertinent 
intemperance  which  it  is  hard  to  condone  to-day.  Yet  the 
alleged  traitor  was  never  proven  guilty,  and  his  reten- 
tion in  prison  would  have  been  a  crime  against  humanity 
and  an  eternal  blot  on  the  escutcheon  of  France.  But,  if 
the  Anti-Dreyfusards  rejoiced  that  a  second  court-martial 
upheld  the  decision  of  the  first,  they  hardly  realized 
that  this  verdict  was  the  death-warrant  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  in  France.  Catholicism  has  never  re- 
covered from  the  crushing  effect  of  the  expose  of  that 
time.  It  lost  prestige  and,  with  it,  all  chance  of  its  own 
future. 

When  that  astute  and  able  statesman,  Waldeck-Rousscau, 


THE  CHURCH   AND  CLERICALISM  113 

took  up  the  reins  of  office,  he  perceived  the  importance  of 
three  things.     He  saw  that : 

1.  France  must  give  greater  stability  to  her  Minis- 
tries, as  the  constant  change  of  Cabinet  was  weakening 
the  executive  arm  of  the  nation. 

2.  That  the  power  of  the  Church  had  to  be  broken 
effectually  to  save  the  Republic  from  Clerical  domin- 
ance and  to  preserve  its  own  life. 

3.  That  it  was  necessary  to  conciliate  the  Socialists 
by  embodying  in  his  own  Cabinet  a  member  of  the 
new  political  party. 

It  is  due  to  these  three  considerations  that  we  have  these 
three  facts  :  a  Ministry  lasting  three  years,  with  conse- 
quent continuity  of  policy  ;  the  famous  Associations  Law, 
requiring  the  registration  of  all  Societies  and  Corporations 
in  France ;  and,  lastly,  the  appointment  of  the  Socialist 
lawyer,  Maitre  Millerand,  to  the  portfolio  of  Public  Works. 

In  his  Associations  Law,  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau  was 
guided  by  the  conviction  that  the  secret  societies  in  the 
Church  were  mainly  responsible  for  the  anti-Republican 
propaganda,  visible  in  the  long  course  of  the  Dreyfus  case. 
Hence,  he  set  resolutely  to  work,  requiring  all  ecclesi- 
astical, quasi-ecclesiastical,  and  secular  bodies  to  define 
their  mission  in  the  commonwealth.  Contrary  to  general 
expectation,  this  epoch-making  law  raised  very  little  serious 
resistance  in  the  country. 

It  was  not  given  to  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau  to  apply  the 
law.  This  work  fell  to  his  successor  in  the  Premiership, 
M.  Emile  Combes,  who  exhibited  an  uncompromising  and 
sectarian  zeal,  which  has  never  been  equalled  in  France 
since  the  days  of  the  Cordeliers  and  the  other  Jacobin 
societies  of  the  Revolution.  He  laid  ruthless  hands  upon 
the  Religious  Orders,  hustling  them  out  of  the  country 
when,  as  happened  in  most  cases,  they  declined  to  register, 
8 


114  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

holding — with  some  show  of  warrant — that  this  was  but 
the  prelude  to  their  spoliation.  Some  who  did  apply  for 
registration  were  refused  the  right ;  others  were  unsuccess- 
ful for  technical  reasons.  As  a  consequence,  the  Orders 
were  dispersed,  and  their  property  liquidated.  Curious 
scenes  were  witnessed  at  this  time — scenes  that  were 
strangely  out  of  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  twentieth 
century.  Gendarmes  escorted  Sisters  of  Mercy  out  of 
villages,  where  they  had  lived  and  laboured  and  grown  grey 
in  the  service  of  the  community,  without  fee  or  reward. 
Undoubtedly  there  were  many  cases  of  hardship,  caused 
by  the  implacable  character  of  M.  Combes'  campaign. 

These  incidents  had  almost  been  forgotten — one  grows 
so  easily  accustomed  to  change  in  France — when  a  great 
financial  scandal  arose,  which,  to  the  credit  of  the  Briand 
Administration,  then  in  office,  was  boldly  handled  by 
the  Government.  A  man  named  Duez,  who  had  been 
entrusted  with  the  winding-up  of  the  estates  of  the  Orders, 
was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  misappropriation.  Whilst  it 
seems  certain  that  some  of  the  Orders  met  the  liquidators 
half-way  and  gave  bribes  for  exceptional  treatment,  it  is 
also  true  that  vast  sums  mysteriously  disappeared  in  their 
passage  through  the  pockets  of  intermediary  officials. 
This,  unfortunately,  is  not  an  isolated  case  in  contempo- 
rary history,  and  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  all 
democracies  is  to  ensure  the  honesty  of  functionaries. 

The  dissolution  of  the  Orders  had  been  accomplished 
with  comparatively  little  upset.  The  next  step  in 
the  chain  of  events  was  the  visit  of  M.  Loubet,  then 
President  of  the  Republic,  to  Rome.  For  the  first  time 
in  history,  the  Chief  of  the  French  nation  neglected  to  pay 
his  respects  to  the  Vatican,  and  confined  his  visit  to  the 
Quirinal.  The  Pope  was  mortally  offended,  and  com- 
plained of  the  affi-ont  in  a  Note  sent  to  the  Powers — a 


THE  CHURCH   AND  CLERICALISM  115 

Note,  by  the  way,  which  was  not  communicated  officially 
to  France.  This  irregularity  was  followed  by  a  rupture  of 
relations  between  the  Vatican  and  the  Republic.  A  state 
of  war  was  declared,  and  the  French  Ambassador  to  the 
Throne  of  St.  Peter  was  recalled,  whilst,  at  the  same  time, 
the  Papal  Nuncio  was  given  his  papers.  Later  on,  a 
clever  and  intriguing  priest,  who  filled  informally  this 
office  in  France,  was  expelled  the  country  by  the  order  of 
M.  Clemenceau,  then  at  the  head  of  the  Government. 

The  formal  rescinding  of  the  Concordat,  divorcing 
Church  from  State,  was  now  resolved  upon.  Since  all 
diplomatic  relations  had  been  broken  off,  there  was  no 
way  of  communicating  with  the  Vatican,  and  the  President 
of  the  Republic,  without  consulting  that  Power,  tore  up  the 
agreement,  signed  a  hundred  years  before,  and  declared 
that,  henceforth,  the  State  would  not — except  in  the  case 
of  certain  expiring  pensions — contribute  one  farthing  to 
the  maintenance  of  clergy  and  to  the  formal  exercise  of 
religion  in  France.  This  momentous  measure  was  carried 
through  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  after  long  discussion, 
and  really  proved  to  be  a  piece  of  admirable  statecraft 
devised  by  M.  Briand,  then  coming  to  the  front  as  a  great 
French  Minister. 

One  of  the  most  important  provisions  in  the  new  Act 
set  up  Associations  Cultuelles,  or  Public  Worship  Associa- 
tions. These  new  bodies  were  to  take  the  place  of  the 
old  "  fabriques,"  or  vestries,  which  had  hitherto  assured  the 
exercise  of  religion  in  the  different  parishes,  seen  to  the  up- 
keep of  the  church  and  to  the  appropriation  of  parochial 
revenues.  The  statesmanlike  Leo  XIII  had  been  replaced 
on  the  Throne  of  St.  Peter  by  Pius  X,  a  man  of  peasant 
origin,  with  a  robust  faith  in  the  destinies  of  the  Church, 
and  a  temper  which  brooked  no  compromise  with  those 
whom  he  considered  to  be  her  enemies.     Not  having  been 


ii6  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

consulted  in  the  Separation  of  Church  and  State  by 
the  French  Parliament,  His  Holiness  refused  to  accept  the 
conditions  whereby  the  Church  could  continue  to  exist  as 
an  officially  recognized  body  in  France.  He  declined, 
absolutely,  the  alluring  Public  Worship  Associations  and 
the  bishops,  who  are  said  to  have  been  favourable  to  the 
idea — not  knowing  then  the  attitude  of  the  Holy  See — 
were  firmly  recalled  to  a  sense  of  their  dependence  upon 
the  Holy  Father's  wisdom  and  discretionary  power. 

Before  the  intransigeance  of  the  Pope,  the  Government 
of  the  Republic  practically  waived  the  question  of  the 
Associations,  leaving  to  the  local  authorities  the  care  of 
seeing  that  the  churches  were,  first  of  all,  offered  to  the 
Catholics  and  at  the  same  time,  allowing  them  to  apply 
local  funds  for  their  repair.  If  no  regular  Catholic  body 
desired  to  use  the  church  for  religious  offices,  then  it  was 
in  the  power  of  the  Commune  to  make  what  other  dis- 
position it  liked. 

The  result  of  this  latitude  is  already  seen.  One  church 
in  the  Department  of  Seine-et-Oise  has  been  destroyed  by 
dynamite  because  it  was  considered  unsafe — the  Commune 
would  not  spend  one  halfpenny  on  its  restoration  ;  another 
edifice  in  the  South  of  France  has  been  closed  because  of 
a  similar  reluctance  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  to  vote 
public  moneys  for  its  repair.  I  am  writing  in  the  early 
part  of  191 1,  and,  no  doubt,  before  this  book  has  gone 
into  other  editions,  there  will  be  many  instances  to  add  to 
those  I  quote. 

Is  religion,  then,  utterly  dead  in  France?  Is  there  no 
sign  of  the  Church  adapting  itself  to  new  conditions  ?  It 
would  be  unfair  to  put  the  case  as  uncompromisingly  as 
that ;  at  the  same  time,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
religious  future  is  black  and  there  are  few  signs  of  that 
silver   lining   which   is   said   to   be   behind   every  cloud. 


THE   CHURCH   AND   CLERICALISM  117 

Undoubtedly,  the  effect  of  Separation  has  been  to  stimulate 
the  zeal  of  good  Catholics  by  eliminating  those  whose 
Catholicism  was  merely  perfunctory  and  social  in  its 
character.  It  is  still  true  that  a  large  majority  of  people 
baptize  their  children  in  church  and  add  the  religious 
marriage  ceremony  to  the  purely  civil  one  required  by  the 
law.  Socialist  deputies  are  often  reproached  because  their 
wives  and  children  attend  church ;  and  we  have  had  this 
strange  spectacle  of  a  violent  protest  on  the  part  of  athe- 
istical parents  in  a  Southern  town  of  France  against  the 
resolution  of  the  priest  to  exclude  their  children  from 
confirmation.  Even  more  ironical  is  the  objection  by 
Radical-Socialists  to  the  ruling  of  the  parish  priest  that 
the  bell  shall  not  be  tolled  for  "  libres  penseurs."  Mayors 
of  Communes  have  given  orders  for  the  removal  of  the 
restriction.  Baptism,  the  first  communion,  and  church 
marriages  are  still  regarded  as  signs  of  respectability, 
which  the  most  ardent  Anti-Clerical  is  not  willing  to  forgo. 
This  is  one  aspect  of  the  case.  Another  is  embodied  in 
the  fact  that  the  really  zealous  Catholic  works  harder  than 
ever  for  the  good  of  the  Church,  and  the  effect  of  Separa- 
tion from  State  patronage  has  been  to  increase  the  offerings 
of  the  Faithful  and  to  galvanize  the  clergy  into  fresh 
efforts  for  their  flock.  Again,  the  dissolution  of  the  Con- 
gregations has  been  regarded  by  numbers  of  country 
clergy  as  a  blessing  in  disguise,  for  the  reason  that  many 
of  the  friars  of  the  preaching  Orders  attracted  wealthy 
and  pious  benefactors  to  chapels  in  the  monasteries,  to  the 
detriment  of  the  work  and  influence  of  the  regular  clergy. 
These  Orders,  in  fact,  constituted  a  competition  of  a  par- 
ticularly onerous  character ;  at  the  same  time,  they  often 
showed  themselves  independent  of  ordinary  hierarchical 
discipline,  since  their  Generals  were  in  Rome,  whence  they 
took  their  Orders,  and  they  were  thus,  in  practice,  outside 


ii8  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

the  jurisdiction  of  the   bishop   in   whose  See  they  were 
working. 

The  position  of  the  town  clergy  has  not  changed  for 
the  worse  under  Disestablishment,  except  in  the  poorest 
parishes.  Amongst  the  richer  congregations  the  stipend 
suppressed  by  the  Government  has  been  more  than  com- 
pensated for  by  private  liberality,  and  the  number  of 
attendances  at  Mass  at  the  great  Church  festivals,  as  well 
as  the  amount  of  the  offertories,  has  been  considerably 
increased.  Men,  also,  have  bulked  largely  in  the  congre- 
gation in  many  of  the  churches,  and,  to  a  superficial  eye, 
there  has  been  a  distinct  renaissance  of  faith  in  urban 
parishes.  Yet,  one  must  not  forget  two  qualifying  facts  : 
one  is  that  this  revival  is  confined  to  the  towns,  and  is  seen 
very  little  in  the  country ;  the  second  is  that,  whilst  not 
disparaging  the  Christian  zeal  of  many  worshippers,  it  is 
indisputable  that  politics  is  not  unconnected  with  church- 
going — a  state  of  things  that  cannot  last  indefinitely. 

As  I  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  strongest 
adherents  of  the  Church  are  to  be  found  amongst  those 
political  parties  most  unfavourable  to  the  present  regime. 
I  am  aware  that  this  is  not  exclusively  so,  for,  in  certain 
parts  of  Savoy,  where  the  electorate  returns  Radicals  to 
the  Chamber,  the  attendance  at  church  of  both  sexes  is 
considerable.  Also,  it  is  notorious  that,  whilst  measures 
of  the  most  Radical  sort  may  pass  the  Chambers,  their 
application  is  a  different  affair.  It  is  known  that  more 
than  one  deputy  gave  his  vote  to  the  harshest  measures 
devised  by  M.  Combes,  but  hurried  afterwards  to  the 
Ministry  of  the  Interior,  to  create  an  exception  in  favour 
of  the  Sisterhood  established  in  his  own  particular  cir- 
conscription. 

I  have  said  that,  in  country  parts  more  especially,  the 
Church  shows  a  tendency  to  disappear.     Even  those  who 


THE   CHURCH   AND   CLERICALISM  119 

take  an  optimistic  view  fear  that,  in  a  year  or  two,  the 
most  zealous  and  the  most  liberal  will  cease  their  contri- 
butions in  face  of  the  hopeless  and  gigantic  character  of 
the  task.  The  prelates  have  exhibited  extraordinary 
adhesion  and  faithfulness  in  obeying  to  the  letter  the 
instructions  of  the  Holy  See ;  at  the  same  time,  neither 
they  nor  the  country  clergy — ^just  as  whole-hearted  in  their 
efforts — can  save  the  situation,  if  the  mass  of  the  people 
remains  indifferent  to  their  ministrations.  The  restriction 
of  revenues  has  had  the  effect  of  introducing  economies 
into  the  internal  working  of  the  Church.  A  single  priest, 
mounted  upon  a  bicycle,  now  covers  several  parishes, 
which  formerly  maintained  three  or  four  cures  ;  in  the 
same  way,  there  has  been  a  grouping  of  districts,  so  as  to 
enable  the  rich  parishes  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  poorer. 
The  more  fortunate  communities  are  directly  taxed  by 
their  spiritual  pastors  for  the  maintenance  of  religion  in 
less  favoured  areas. 

It  may  be  asked  if  the  Church  could  have  accomplished 
more  by  bending  to  the  wind  of  expediency  and  becoming 
Opportunist  like  its  political  opponents.  Is  its  Divine 
inspiration  gone,  or  is  its  loss  of  influence  due  to  secular 
causes?  — want  of  perception,  lack  of  common  prudence 
and  worldly  wisdom  ?  These  are  difficult  matters  to  settle 
off-hand — matters  particularly  difficult  for  the  layman  not 
in  close  touch  with  the  ecclesiastical  world.  Nevertheless, 
the  assertion  may  be  hazarded  that  the  Pope  made  a 
lamentable  mistake  in  first  decreeing  his  own  Infallibility 
in  1870.  This  has  been  one  of  the  bitter  pills  for  intelli- 
gent Catholicism  to  swallow.  That  the  Pope  can  do  no 
wrong  is  surely  as  hard  a  doctrine  for  the  lay  mind  to 
accept  as  that  the  sovereign  of  a  free  people  rules  by 
Divine  right.  Such  creeds  belong  to  bygone  ages,  when 
the  world  was  dark  and  held  strange  delusions. 


I20  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

Then,  again,  the  miraculous  grotto  at  Lourdes  has 
proved  a  stumbling-block  for  the  twentieth  -  century 
Catholic.  Many  of  the  cures  obtained  from  bathing  in 
the  waters  of  the  spring  of  Bernadette  are,  probably,  quite 
authentic.  Personally,  on  my  visit  to  Lourdes,  I  was 
struck  with  the  sincerity  of  the  members  of  the  Medical 
Bureau,  as  well  as  with  the  proselytizing  zeal  of  the  clergy ; 
nor  did  the  particularly  commercial  aspects  of  the  town 
obtrude  themselves,  such  as  the  readers  of  Zola's 
"  Lourdes  "  might  suppose ;  yet  it  is,  perhaps,  not  neces- 
sary to  look  to  supernatural  means  for  an  explanation  of 
the  sudden  ability  of  cripples  to  walk,  of  the  blind  to  see, 
and  of  the  palsied  to  rise  from  their  beds  of  sickness.  Mere 
nervous  excitement,  acting  in  special  circumstances,  will 
produce  extraordinary  changes — at  least,  momentarily,  in 
the  condition  of  the  chronic  invalid.  Faith  cures  are  no 
myths,  but  belong  to  recognized  medical  phenomena. 

Leo  XIII  had  much  of  the  guile  of  the  diplomat  and 
saw  the  trend  of  events.  He  saw  that  the  Republic  was 
to  become  dominant  and  that  the  Clerical  party,  politically 
considered,  was  dead.  Hence  he  trimmed  the  sails  of  the 
ecclesiastical  barque  to  catch  the  wind.  He  issued  in- 
structions to  the  Faithful  in  France  to  rally  to  the 
Republic,  to  waste  no  longer  their  energy  in  useless  fight- 
ing. This  party  was  known  for  years  as  the  Conservative 
"  Rallies."  It  may  be  that  their  conversion  was  not 
sincere,  and  that,  whilst  adopting  the  label  of  "  rallies," 
they  remained  recalcitrant ;  but,  at  least,  they  gave  men 
to  understand  that  they  had  given  up  the  old  fetish  of  a 
Throne  and  adopted  the  idea  of  a  Republic.  That  was 
the  policy  of  Leo  XIII,  and,  for  years,  it  succeeded.  It  is 
doubtful  if  the  suppression  of  the  Concordat  could  have 
come  in  his  time.  He  had  too  much  worldly  wisdom  to 
attempt  to  fight  against  the  inevitable.     His  practical 


THE   CHURCH   AND  CLERICALISM  121 

sense  would  not  permit  him  to  engage  in  a  battle  that  was 
bound  to  end  in  one  way.  But  his  successor  in  the 
Pontiff's  chair  is  a  man  of  other  mettle.  He  has  in  him 
the  stuff  of  Christian  martyrs,  a  Crusader  of  the  old  time. 
He  has  made  up  his  mind  that  the  present  rulers  of  the 
Republic  and  the  Church  cannot  be  on  good  terms,  for 
the  reason  that,  in  denouncing  the  compact  made  with 
Napoleon,  they  are  disregarding  the  claims  underlying 
the  contract:  that  the  State  pensions  to  the  clergy  were 
compensation  for  the  confiscation  of  the  Revolution.  Being 
pledged  to  a  certain  course,  Pope  Pius  X  admits  of  no 
concession,  no  flinching  from  the  material  consequences. 
This  is  the  difference  between  the  two  men  :  the  one 
supple,  accommodating — a  real  tactician ;  the  other  intran- 
sigeant,  rigid  in  his  adherence  to  certain  standards  of 
right  and  wrong. 

Had  the  Church  been  more  pliable,  it  would,  perhaps, 
have  kept  its  place  in  France.  Had  it  shown  better  judg- 
ment in  abstaining  from  political  propaganda,  it  would, 
certainly,  not  have  raised  up  the  enemies  that  it  has  at 
present.  Much  of  the  persecution  that  fell  upon  the 
Church  in  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
due  to  its  own  perverted  action,  half-a-century  before,  in 
the  days  of  its  triumph,  under  the  Second  Empire.  It 
showed  itself  intolerant  and  prejudiced,  and,  when  its  turn 
came,  the  Republic  exhibited  an  equal  want  of  consider- 
ation. 

Voltaire  said  that  if  no  God  had  existed,  one  would 
have  had  to  be  invented.  The  French,  at  this  moment,  are 
suffering  from  having  dethroned  God  and  from  having 
thrown  down  His  altars.  Yet,  in  the  present  state  of  affairs, 
one  cannot  help  blaming  the  Church  for  having  failed  to 
realize  the  significance  of  events.  It  should  have  compre- 
hended that  the  public  waited  for  an  expression  of  opinion, 


122  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

a  solution  of  modern  problems.  But  none  came.  The 
voice  of  the  Church  was  dumb.  The  oracle  spoke  not 
when  questioned  upon  such  matters  as  Church  doctrine  in 
reference  to  modern  investigation  and  scientific  thought. 
Abbe  Loisy  arose  and,  in  trenchant  fashion,  applied  to  the 
New  Testament  that  searching  analysis  which  had  hitherto 
been  only  given  to  the  Old.  He  examined,  ruthlessly,  such 
questions  as  the  Virgin  birth  and  the  Resurrection  of 
Christ.  And  the  Church,  which  had  objected  to  "  La  vie 
de  Jesus  "  of  Renan,  objected  even  more  strongly  to  the 
work  of  his  successor  in  the  Chair  of  Religions  at  the 
College  de  France.  It  saw  in  the  sweet  reasonableness 
and  the  moderation  of  his  tone — careful,  balanced,  coldly 
logical — the  most  deathly  weapon  that  could  be  turned 
against  it.  And  so  his  books  were  placed  upon  the  Pro- 
hibited Index  and  he  was  banned  from  the  kingdom  of 
the  Faithful.  Thus,  there  was  profound  Catholic  indig- 
nation when  the  Government  gave  the  excommunicated 
priest  the  professorial  chair  in  the  College  de  France  in 
virtue  of  his  remarkable  works  in  higher  criticism. 

Whilst  the  Church  has  certainly  to  guard  its  funda- 
mental doctrines  and  to  see  that  there  is  no  whittling 
away  of  what  are  sometimes  called  the  "  Eternal  Verities," 
it  might  well  be  that,  in  so  large  a  fold  as  the  Roman  Com- 
munion, room  might  be  found  for  this  intensely  scholarly 
spirit,  this  savant  steeped  in  a  knowledge  of  Eastern 
religions  and  possessed  of  the  most  honest  and  sincere 
historical  sense.  His  worst  offence  is  that  he  has  taken 
the  Scriptures  and  treated  them  as  the  historian  might. 
If  it  were  urged  that  his  conclusions  would  undermine  the 
religious  faith  of  the  weaker  brethren,  refutation  might  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  his  books  have  all  the  characteristics 
of  technical  and  highly  scientific  works,  and  make  no 
appeal  to  the  popular  mind.     Nor  is  it  to  be  imagined 


THE   CHURCH   AND   CLERICALISM  123 

that  those  who  constitute  the  bulk  of  the  Catholic  Church 
ever  indulge  in  extraneous  reading,  bearing  upon  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Gospels  or  such  matters ;  nevertheless,  it 
is  true  that  his  teachings  are  likely  to  influence  those  pre- 
paring for  the  priesthood. 

Only  the  younger  clergy  in  France  show  curiosity  as  to 
modern  thought.  Men  above  forty  are,  as  a  rule,  immersed 
in  their  parochial  affairs,  and  exhibit  none  of  those  dis- 
quieting tendencies  towards  investigation  which  would 
bring  them  within  reach  of  the  anathemas  of  the  Church. 
They  hold  a  comfortable  faith,  and  have  long  since  quelled 
any  promptings  of  the  inquiring  conscience  that  they 
might  have  had  in  earlier  and  more  ardent  days.  To 
them  their  faith  has  crystallized  into  symbolism,  and  their 
teaching  into  the  set  doctrines  of  the  Christian  Fathers. 
But  men  of  younger  years  are  undoubtedly  perplexed  and 
torn  asunder  by  the  modern  spirit  of  doubt.  The  circum- 
stance that  the  numbers  of  the  priesthood  are  diminishing 
in  France  is  not  due  merely  to  material  considerations — 
the  question  of  loaves  and  fishes — but  is  affected  by  the 
general  disbelief  which  has  spread  itself  over  the  land  and 
attacked  the  doctrinal  side  of  religion  as  well  as  all  matters 
of  authority.  "  Intellectual  anarchy,"  the  "  Temps  "  calls 
this  attitude  of  mind.  Whatever  the  form  it  takes,  whether 
in  the  restlessness  of  the  working  classes,  whose  outbursts 
now  and  again  alarm  the  Bourgeoisie  and  shake  their 
complacency ;  in  terrible  examples  of  precocious  crime,  or 
in  anti-militarist  propaganda  and  assaults  upon  private 
property,  it  seems  to  be  possessed  by  the  devil  of  destruc- 
tion. It  breaks  down  idols  and  puts  nothing  in  their 
place. 

The  Church,  then,  in  France,  has  difficult  times  in  store, 
having  missed  the  golden  opportunity  for  real  usefulness. 
Sometimes  its  voice  is  heard  to  good  purpose,  as  in  19 10, 


I 


124        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

when  the  protest  of  the  bishops  against  un-Christian  teach- 
ing in  the  schools  found  expression  in  Parliament  and 
recognition  from  the  Government,  which  acknowledged 
the  right  of  parents  to  control  the  teaching  of  their 
children.  But,  for  the  most  part,  the  Church  has  lost 
real  hold,  and,  perhaps,  can  never  regain  it.  Like  Parlia- 
mentarism, it  seems  to  have  had  its  day,  to  have  become 
clogged  and  sterile. 

As  to  the  function  of  the  Church  in  the  future,  we  are 
guided  by  the  fact  that  it  has  intervened  in  the  interests 
of  Labour.  Mgr.  Amette,  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  has 
shown  zeal  in  the  cause  of  social  reform.  He  took  up  the 
question  of  the  bakeries  in  Paris,  insisting  that  night  work 
should  cease.  This  attitude  so  delighted  the  working 
bakers,  then  on  the  verge  of  a  strike,  that  they  invited  the 
prelate  to  one  of  their  trade  union  meetings.  The  offer 
was  not  accepted ;  but  it  is  a  sign  of  the  times  that  the 
Church  should  put  itself  so  directly  and  forcibly  in  line 
with  militant  "  syndicalism."  Another  prominent  Church- 
man, the  Comte  de  Mun,  a  member  of  the  Parliamentary 
Right,  has  exhibited  great  sympathy  with  the  working 
girls  of  Paris,  and  taken  a  lively  part  in  vindicating  their 
claim  to  a  living  wage,  thus  enabling  them  to  preserve 
their  self-respect.  The  only  serious  newspaper  organ  re- 
presenting shop  assistants  is  supported  by  a  Catholic 
organization. 

It  would  appear  that  if  the  Church  wishes  to  maintain 
any  hold  in  France,  it  must  come  out  resolutely  from  the 
ranks  of  the  demi-semi-quaverers,  from  those  who  tolerate 
the  Republic  merely  because  they  are  afraid  to  be  hostile. 
It  is  the  business  of  Churchmen  to  show  that  Catholicism 
and  Republicanism  are  not  incompatible  terms.  The  ex- 
ample of  the  United  States  is  a  proof  that  the  two  can 
exist  under  the  same  roof-tree.     But,  in  the  "  land  of  the 


THE   CHURCH   AND   CLERICALISM  125 

brave  and  the  free,"  Catholicism  is  a  vastly  different  thing 
from  that  in  the  old  countries.  It  is  no  longer  Ultra- 
montane, but  has  adopted  the  most  Liberal  aspect.  It 
has  abandoned  idolatry,  but  conserved  the  inward  spirit 
of  Catholicism.  It  is  in  concession  to  this  principle  that 
the  Vatican  has  been  urged  to  give  more  red  caps  to  the 
United  States ;  but  it  somewhat  fears  this  new  and  inno- 
vating doctrine  from  across  the  Atlantic. 

The  Church  must  proceed  along  these  lines  and  refrain 
from  all  political  action.  Church  people  themselves  say 
that  their  revenue  is  now  better  than  ever  before,  and  that 
those  who  have  departed  from  the  fold  were  only  nomin- 
ally of  the  Faithful.  Yet  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
problems  of  a  difficult  kind  have  to  be  faced  and  con- 
quered. Will  the  Church  rise  to  the  height  of  its  task  ? 
This  depends  largely  upon  the  wisdom  or  unwisdom  of 
those  who  are,  at  present,  conducting  its  destinies.  If  it 
came  out  into  the  open  and  bravely  faced  all  the  problems 
that  are  to  be  faced  in  modern  France,  shaking  off  sloth, 
boldly  ranging  itself  with  the  lovers  of  good  order,  of 
justice,  mercy,  and  purity  of  government,  it  would  have 
the  tacit  support  of  all  classes.  But,  at  present,  it  shows  a 
disposition  to  lurk  in  the  shadows  of  political  intrigue,  not 
without — I  hasten  to  say — certain  excellent  reasons.  But, 
obviously,  it  must  rise  above  party  prejudice  and  exhibit 
the  superiority  of  the  Christian  martyr  to  persecution.  It 
is  to  be  feared  that  the  "  beaux  jours  "  are  passed  for  ever, 
but,  at  least,  it  can  awaken  the  admiration  of  the  people, 
and  its  influence  is  necessary  in  order  to  safeguard  the 
country  from  a  too  materialistic  tendency. 

One  of  the  most  important  missions  of  the  Church  is  the 
care  and  education  of  the  young.  As  I  have  pointed  out, 
elsewhere,  many  of  the  Church  schools  have  been  aban- 
doned by  reason  of  the  growing  expense  and  difficulty  of 


126  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

maintenance.  In  their  place  are  springing  up  "patron- 
ages" or  organizations  for  Church  lads,  which,  from  the 
Churchman's  point  of  view,  have  this  advantage,  that  they 
are  outside  Government  inspection,  and  there  is  no 
examination  of  the  theories  inculcated  in  the  young.  It 
is  just  possible  that  the  "  patronages  "  may  be  more  secta- 
rian in  their  influence  than  even  the  schools,  but  the 
teaching  is  less  continuous,  since  the  children  can  only 
attend  on  free  evenings. 

One  of  the  unfortunate  effects  of  divisions  in  France 
is  that  they  affect  the  young.  Boys  attending  Church 
schools  and  clerical  lye^es  have  their  views  coloured  all 
through  life,  and  they  are  from  their  nursery  days  already 
embarked  in  the  Opposition.  This  is  obviously  bad  for 
the  country  since  a  common  educational  origin  for  all 
her  citizens — provided  you  can  secure  really  "  neutral " 
teaching — is  one  of  the  necessities  of  a  progressive  and 
democratic  rule. 

Women  have  always  supported  the  Church  in  France, 
and  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  Radical  and  Socialist 
parties  are  unwilling  to  give  the  sex  the  vote  is  the  feeling 
that,  in  the  exercise  of  it,  it  will  bring  back  the  dreaded 
institution.  Whether  this  view  is  justified  or  not,  there 
seems  to  be  some  likelihood — without  waiting  for  female 
suffrage — of  a  return  of  some  of  the  Orders,  when  the 
policy  of  conciliation  becomes  more  marked. 

In  any  case,  the  Church  exists,  piloted  by  men  of  strong 
vocation  and  robust  faith,  who  have  shown  remarkable 
devotion  to  the  Holy  See  in  the  midst  of  a  depressing 
crisis.  Even  now  one  might  find  the  Church  coming  to 
its  own  again  in  France  if  only  it  would  recognize  the 
changed  conditions,  make  them  its  own,  and  draw  from 
them  the  best  results  that  can  be  obtained. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
PARIS   AND   PROVINCIAL   SOCIETY 

REPUBLICANISM  superimposed  on  a  large 
surface  of  Monarchical  history  has  created 
k^  piquant  differences  in  society.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  forty  years  of  existence  of  the  present  Republic, 
there  is  still  the  gulf  between  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain, 
the  sacred  grove  of  the  old  nobility,  and  the  Republican 
drawing-rooms  promiscuously  scattered  on  the  Right  and 
Left  Banks.  The  abiding-place  of  the  old  aristocracy,  or 
such  remnants  of  it  as  are  more  or  less  authentic,  is  still 
proof — rigidly  proof — against  Republican  invasion.  No 
Republican  Minister  and  his  wife  fraternize  with  "  le 
Monde "  as  it  is  understood  in  the  social  columns  of  the 
"  Gaulois."  And  it  is  rare  that  the  young  descendants  of 
ancient  lineage  leave  the  cold  and  formal  atmosphere 
of  the  Faubourg  for  the  wider  world  of  affairs  either  of 
politics,  finance,  diplomacy  or  the  "haute  magistrature." 
If,  as  sometimes  happens,  the  scion  of  a  noble  house  is 
impoverished,  he  may  wed  the  fortune  of  Bourgeois  brains 
and  industry,  particularly  if  of  foreign  or  Semitic  origin. 
In  that  case  he  raises  the  lady,  Semitic  or  American,  to 
his  own  dignity,  and  her  identity  is  lost  in  her  husband's 
dull  world.  Nor  does  either  one  or  the  other  dream  of 
enlarging  the  circle  of  his  or  her  acquaintance  by  con- 
sorting with  the  stranger  elements  of  either  society. 

The   Faubourg   remains   closed   to   the   New  Idea,  as 

127 


128  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

it  is  closed  to  the  parvenu,  except,  as  I  have  said,  the 
dowered  stranger  from  beyond  the  seas.  As  a  rule,  the 
only  avenue  for  employment  under  the  Republic  is 
the  Army,  certain  of  the  smart  cavalry  regiments  being 
officered  by  men  of  the  old  families.  Even  here,  they 
may  find  their  opinions  in  conflict  with  their  duty  to  the 
State,  as  occurred  during  the  expulsion  of  the  Orders. 
In  some  few  cases  the  position  of  a  Catholic  officer  was  so 
intolerable  that  resignation  naturally  imposed.  There  are, 
conceivably,  other  occasions  when  the  requisition  of  the 
military  arm  by  the  Prefect  of  the  Department  might 
raise  a  protest  in  the  breast  of  a  Royalist  or  "croyant," 
just  as  a  Socialist  officer  has  sometimes  objected  to  strike- 
duty  as  a  demonstration  in  favour  of  capital.  But  these 
instances,  of  either  one  sort  or  the  other,  are  comparatively 
rare. 

Of  late  years  there  has  been  some  attempt,  on  behalf 
of  the  Faubourg,  to  enter  the  diplomatic  service,  but 
French  representatives  abroad  are  more  and  more  drawn 
from  good  Bourgeois  stock — the  Republican  aristocracy, 
it  is  called ;  and  men  like  the  Cambons,  Pichon  and 
Delcassd  represent  the  high  level  of  the  middle  classes. 
General  Andre's  strange  rule  in  the  Army,  introducing  (as 
is  alleged)  the  informative  "fiches"  and  other  distressing 
symptoms  of  Jacobin  espionage,  disgusted  some  officers 
of  the  old  regime ;  whilst  (as  I  show  in  Chapter  VI)  his 
colleague  in  the  Navy,  Camille  Pelletan,  appeared  to 
delight  in  encouraging  the  lower  ranks  of  the  service  at 
the  expense  of  their  superiors :  admirals  suspected  of 
reactionary  sympathies. 

Republican  society  and  Republican  influence  are  domi- 
nant to-day,  though  there  have  been  occasions  when  the 
greatest  tact  was  necessary,  in  the  interests  of  State,  to 
prevent  a  breach  between  the  ladies  of  the  Republican 


PARIS   AND   PROVINCIAL   SOCIETY  129 

circles  and  the  aristocratic  dames  of  a  foreign  Court. 
Difficulties  of  this  sort  arose  during  the  visit  of  the  Tsar 
and  Tsarina  to  Compiegne,  in  honour  of  the  Grand  Al- 
liance, and  required  diplomacy  to  smooth  over.  But, 
though  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  between  the  "  monde " 
and  the  Republican  bourgeoisie,  the  actual  influence  of 
the  former  in  politics  or  in  the  arts  and  literature  daily 
dwindles.  Now  that  the  old  power  of  the  Church  is 
broken,  as  a  political  factor,  this  influence  is  much  less 
potent  than  before.  The  cure,  of  course,  exercises  a  cer- 
tain social  influence  in  Paris  and  in  the  large  towns  of 
France,  and  dignitaries  of  the  Church  make  appearances 
in  elegant  drawing-rooms ;  but  their  role  in  life  is  not 
what  it  was,  nor  are  they  as  much  considered,  perhaps, 
because  of  the  prevalence  of  Free  Thought.  Republican 
deputies  object  to  the  cure,  not  so  much  because  of  his 
principles  as  because  of  his  practice :  the  practice  of  the 
confession,  which  induces  the  indiscreet  wife  to  reveal  to 
the  priest,  to  be  carried  later  to  Rome,  secrets  in  the  plan 
of  Republican  action.  The  feeling  that  the  wife  of  his 
bosom  was  giving  information  to  the  opposite  camp  has 
had  a  large  effect  in  shutting  Republican  doors  to  the 
ministers  of  the  Roman  Church. 

The  salon  is  almost  dead.  The  few  that  remain  are 
shorn  of  their  former  splendours.  The  last  real  salon 
that  existed  was  that  of  the  Princess  Mathilde,  niece  of 
the  great  Napoleon  and  cousin  of  the  Third  of  that  name. 
It  was  thought  by  some  that  she  was  going  to  marry 
Napoleon  III,  and  such  was  her  charm  and  gift  for  hos- 
pitality that  she  would  have  made  an  excellent  hostess  of 
the  Tuileries  and  would  probably  have  prevented  the 
catastrophe,  which  was  hastened,  according  to  contem- 
porary observers,  by  the  tactlessness  and  air  of  frivolity 
exhibited  by  the  Empress  Eugenie.  It  was  the  Princess 
9 


I30  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

Mathilde,  indeed,  who  introduced  the  Countess  de 
Montijo  to  her  Imperial  cousin.  Mathilde  reigned  fifty 
years  as  the  greatest  social  queen  of  Paris.  During  the 
Empire,  her  salon  was  a  close  rival  of  the  Imperial  House- 
hold, and,  after  its  disappearance,  she  continued  to  hold 
her  receptions  under  the  segis  of  the  Republic,  succeeding, 
by  a  perfect  discretion,  in  allaying  any  suspicions  as  to  her 
attitude  towards  the  new  Government.  Her  salon,  indeed, 
was  not  political  in  tone,  but  artistic  and  literary.  There 
came  to  her  gatherings  the  most  celebrated  men  in  France, 
and,  during  the  long  period  of  her  reign,  she  impressed  her 
contemporaries  with  her  grace  of  manner  and  her  gift  of 
hospitality. 

Since  her  time,  these  daily  assemblages  of  brilliant  people 
in  the  house  and  park  of  St.  Gratien  have  had  no  equal. 
Mme  Juliette  Adam  still  holds  court  in  her  charming  re- 
treat of  the  Abbaye  de  Gif,  but  her  receptions  are  of  rarer 
occurrence.  Here  and  there,  in  the  city,  well-known 
literary  ladies  gather  together  their  friends  at  stated 
intervals,  but  the  salon,  as  it  used  to  be,  hardly  survives. 
The  nearest  approach  to  it  is  the  Foyer  of  the  Comedie 
Frangaise,  where  the  subscribers  meet  on  certain  nights  in 
the  week,  just  as  in  the  Inner  Foyer  of  the  Opera,  the 
older  habitues  gather,  recounting  reminiscences  and 
exchanging  the  gossip  of  the  day,  on  each  Monday  during 
the  season.  There  are  other  semi-public  places  in  Paris 
where  one  talks ;  but  the  old  gay  spirit  that  gave  birth  to 
salons  has  departed,  hurried  out  of  existence  by  the 
automobile,  the  hustle  and  sporting  proclivities  of  the  age. 
Men  whose  interest  in  life  is  centred  in  the  golf-ball,  in  dry 
flies,  or  in  travelling  at  break-neck  speed  across  the 
country  are  not  likely  to  care  for  witty  and  amusing 
conversation. 

The   charm    of  the    French   salon   lay  in  its  general 


PARIS   AND   PROVINCIAL   SOCIETY  131 

exchange  of  ideas.  The  tete-a-tete  was  taboo :  none  talked 
his  personal  secrets  with  his  neighbour  in  a  sepulchral 
voice,  or  bandied  banalities  about  the  weather  and  the 
crops.  Such  topics  are  disallowed  at  French  tables  and  in 
drawing-rooms  ;  in  their  place  is  a  bright  and  generous  flow 
of  wit  and  badinage,  a  verbal  tennis  over  the  board,  with 
every  competent  player  taking  part  and  keeping  up  the 
ball  as  long  as  his  conversational  skill  permits.  Thus,  in 
the  salon  was  a  general  commerce,  an  exchange  and  mart 
of  ideas,  a  quickening  of  the  intellect,  a  sharpening  of  the 
wits,  such  as  no  British  "five  o'clock,"  with  its  dull 
generalities  and  gossiping  groups,  could  produce. 

But  French  society  tends  to  become  infected  with  the 
active  spirit  of  the  English  and  Americans.  The  fashion- 
able Frenchman  of  to-day  approaches  the  Anglo-Saxon 
in  his  spending  capacities  and  addiction  to  sport,  rather 
than  his  own  forbears.  He  spends  more,  travels  more, 
and  thinks  less — at  least  he  reads  less.  Then,  too,  "le 
monde,"  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  written  on  the 
subject,  are  much  freer  in  their  ways  than  the  Bourgeoisie. 
Their  daughters  are  not  hedged  about  as  are  the  demoiselles 
of  the  middle  class — always  timid  of  social  innovation — 
and  they  ride  freely  in  the  park  of  a  morning  attended  by 
the  groom,  or  go  in  their  automobile  to  La  Boulie,  where 
they  meet  their  girl  friends  for  a  game  of  Badminton  or 
of  golf,  on  the  ladies'  course.  Yet  it  may  be  said,  with  no 
invidious  intention,  that  these  young  ladies  of  the  highest 
French  society  take  no  chances  which  would  compromise 
their  position,  and  the  gesture  of  a  young  girl  inviting  the 
glance  of  a  stranger  male  is  quite  unheard  of  Nor  do 
they  flirt  with  chance  acquaintances.  Coquetting  with 
love  is  not  a  French  amusement.  The  whole  subject  is 
regarded  as  too  serious.  It  is  only  quite  recently  that  the 
stage  has  pictured  humorously  the  love-sick  youth.     "  A 


132        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

quoi  bon  ?  "  asks  the  ordinary  young  man  or  woman  when 
invited  (in  defiance  of  Alfred  de  Musset's  comedy :  "  On 
ne  badine  pas  avec  TAmour  ")  to  play  the  game  of  love- 
lorn language  and  languorous  glances.  "  What  is  the 
good  ?  unless  I  intend  to  go  the  whole  way." 

The  introduction  of  the  commercial  element  has 
changed  society  to  a  large  extent  in  France.  The  "  par- 
venu" is  everywhere,  planting  himself  firmly  in  the 
Champs  Elysees  and  even  looking,  with  a  little  pitying 
patronage,  upon  exclusive  drawing-rooms  of  the  Fau- 
bourg. By  hook  or  by  crook  he  will  enter  and  carry 
away  something  that  can  be  purchased  for  his  pains :  a 
dowerless  daughter  with  a  title,  some  crested  privilege, 
some  apanage  of  the  old  estate.  The  obtrusion  of  money 
is  one  of  the  most  marked  features  of  the  social  transfor- 
mation. It  is  partly  responsible  for  the  semi-abandonment 
of  the  old  aristocratic  pursuits  which  brought  together 
the  upper  classes  for  their  stag-hunting  in  the  forest  of 
Fontainebleau  and  the  surrounding  woods  of  the  Paris 
region.  Another  reason,  also,  why  the  "  monde "  is 
timorous  of  the  approach  of  wealth  is  the  latter's  pre- 
cipitation to  adopt  or  purchase  titles,  which,  in  the  popular 
view,  rank  it  with  the  authentic  nobility.  If  one  considers 
the  fact  that  the  younger  sons  of  the  French  aristocracy 
bear  the  titles  of  their  fathers,  and  that  at  least  half  the 
blasons  borne  by  purse-proud  people  are  entirely  un- 
authorized and  simply  self-appropriated,  one  gets  a  fair 
impression  of  the  confused  state  of  French  society  at  this 
moment.  No  doubt  the  concierge  is  impressed  by  the 
title  of  count  or  vicomte,  but  the  ordinary  world  wears  a 
weary  smile  when  it  is  asked,  by  inference,  to  do  homage 
to  some  self-styled  noble. 

Provincial  society  differs  considerably  from  the  social 
complexion  of  Paris.     In  industrial  towns,  such  as  Lille 


PARIS   AND   PROVINCIAL  SOCIETY  133 

and  Bordeaux,  Rouen,  Lyons,  Marseilles,  you  have  business 
interests  predominating.  Judges  and  magistrates  and  Re- 
publican functionaries  take  a  high  place ;  the  general 
commanding  the  district  is  a  social  personage,  the 
Prefect  is  looked  up  to,  and  every  functionary  is  con- 
sidered with  a  respect  that  is  strictly  in  proportion  to  his 
"  pull "  with  t/ie  powers  that  be.  The  smaller  the  place 
the  more  local  influences  prevail,  of  course,  and  the  greater 
the  play  of  the  particular  caucus  which  gives  the  deputy 
his  majority.  The  main  occupation  of  the  smaller  towns 
is  politics  and  the  intrigues  which  are  dignified  by  the 
name.  The  governor  of  the  local  asylum,  the  keeper  of 
the  prison,  the  postmaster,  the  "chef  de  gare,"  the  com- 
missaire  of  police,  even  the  school  teacher,  and  the  "  garde 
champetre,"  feel  more  or  less  the  power  of  the  representa- 
tive of  the  people  who  sits  in  the  Palais-Bourbon.  One 
of  the  most  curious  facts  of  village  life  is  the  dominance 
of  Dominie.  He  is  often  the  agent  of  the  deputy.  In 
England  he  concerns  himself  exclusively  with  education  ; 
in  France  he  is  a  species  of  tyrant  speaking  in  the  name 
of  Freemasonry  and  other  influences.  Collectively,  he  is 
a  Collectivist,  which  may  account  for  certain  tendencies  in 
the  rising  generation,  and,  also,  for  the  mistrust  and  dislike 
with  which  he  is  regarded  in  "  bien  pensant "  circles.  The 
exaggerated  development  of  the  "esprit  de  clocher,"  or 
parochial  spirit  of  the  country-side,  is  largely  responsible 
for  the  present  movement  to  modify  the  return  of  mem- 
bers of  Parliament  by  adoption  of  the  "  scrutin  de 
liste."  It  is  thought  that  with  a  widened  electoral  area 
will  come  wider  interests  and  a  larger  conception  of 
the  role  of  Parliamentarian.  Whether  this  is  so  or 
not,  the  fact  remains  that  the  intrigues  of  party — the 
swing  of  the  pendulum  between  the  Republican  who 
is   an   unavowed   Monarchist   and   the    Republican   who 


134  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

is  an  avowed  Socialist  or  perhaps  a  Revolutionary — 
provide  the  chief  occupation  in  small  centres  of  popu- 
lation in  France. 

The  life  in  a  Sous-Prefecture  presents  the  deadliest  sort 
of  monotony  to  persons  of  active  temperament,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  the  ambition  of  Madame  la  Sous-Prefete  is 
always  to  migrate  to  Paris,  where  she  will  be  in  the  centre 
of  movement  and  where  her  husband  will  have  a  greater 
chance  of  exhibiting  his  unrivalled  talents  as  "  arriviste." 
In  the  garrison  towns,  of  course,  the  military  element 
imposes  itself,  and,  contrasting  with  this  society  of  officers 
and  their  wives,  is  the  rival  camp  of  the  Freemasons, 
which  represents  the  acme  of  Anti-Clericalism  and  Free 
Thought,  with  a  disdain,  more  or  less  pronounced,  for  the 
Army  and  all  its  works.  Since  the  Parliamentary  exposure 
of  General  Andrd's  system  of  "  fiches,"  the  power  of  Free- 
masonry as  an  occult  political  influence  has  declined  in 
France ;  nevertheless,  as  I  have  mentioned  earlier,  Govern- 
ments of  late  years  are  said  to  obtain  a  great  deal  of 
information  concerning  the  fidelity  of  their  functionaries 
by  the  obscure  means  of  the  Lodges.  Freemasonry,  in 
France,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  remark,  is  vastly  different 
from  the  movement  in  England,  where  it  is  under  the 
direct  patronage  of  Royalty.  English  Freemasons  are 
forbidden  to  enter  French  Lodges,  since  the  Continental 
Brother  is,  admittedly,  little  inclined  to  credit  Monarchy 
or  the  Church  with  good  motives. 

The  deadly  dullness  of  French  provincial  life  contrasts 
sharply  with  the  existence  of  the  country  squire  in 
England.  There  is  none  of  those  reunions,  social, 
agricultural,  and  sporting,  which  unite  all  classes  in 
England.  You  do  not  find  the  cure  meeting  his  parish- 
ioners on  the  cricket  field ;  and  this  not  merely  because 
cricket  is   not  a  national  game.     If  it  were,  you  could 


PARIS   AND   PROVINCIAL  SOCIETY  135 

hardly  imagine  the  association  of  the  Clerical  sheep  with 
the  Republican  goats.  Nor  do  Radical-Socialists  and  the 
country  gentry  fraternize  on  the  golf-ground,  at  agricul- 
tural shows,  at  local  trotting  matches,  and  the  hundred 
and  one  institutions  that  make  country  life  in  England 
so  interesting  and  varied  to  men  of  out-of-door  tastes. 
Social  life  is  an  affair  of  groups,  pivoting  about  a  cafe,  the 
head-quarters  of  a  caucus.  Men  of  diverse  political  senti- 
ment may  meet  and  shake  hands  coldly,  but  they  will  not 
fraternize  socially  as  is  the  way  in  the  milder,  more 
mellow  atmosphere  of  England.  In  France,  political 
hostilities  accompany  a  man  to  his  death-bed  and  some- 
times beyond  it.  The  Church  will  refuse  Christian  burial 
to  a  Socialist  who  has  distinguished  himself  by  a  violent 
Anti-Clericalism.  The  odd  thing,  I  repeat,  is  that  the  friends 
of  the  defunct  militant  should  show  such  displeasure  at  the 
priest's  embargo.  It  is  a  proof,  perhaps,  that  they  are  very 
human  after  all. 

Country  life  lacks  the  stimulus  of  fox-hunting  and 
those  other  pleasures  that  draw  all  classes  together.  You 
do  not  find  any  mingling  of  the  local  landowner  and  his 
tenants  in  the  ride  to  hounds:  the  friendly  sporting  in- 
stinct that  unites  the  squire  and  the  working  farmer  in  the 
Shires.  "  Petite  culture  " — the  intensive  cultivation  of  the 
fields  and  their  subdivision  into  minute  holdings — tends  to 
bar  all  hunting  operations,  and  a  fox  who  should  be  bold 
enough  to  visit  a  peasant's  hen-roost  would  be  speedily 
shot,  in  defiance  of  the  rules  of  sport.  A  bagged  fox, 
however,  supplies  some  runs  in  the  Pau  district,  but  truth 
compels  me  to  state  that  Reynard  is  an  English  importa- 
tion. Such  hunting  as  there  is,  in  the  great  forest  lands, 
is  a  question  of  money  down — paid  by  some  rich  mag- 
nate or  a  rich  society,  which  hunts  the  stag  so  many 
times  a  week,  and  in    return   for  the   privilege,  pays  a 


136        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

large  annual  rent  to  the  local  commune  in  relief  of  the 
rates.  / 

Large  estates  are  comparatively  few,  for  the  reason  that 
they  were  broken  up  at  the  Revolution  and  given  to  the 
peasantry.  The  latter  till  their  land  with  an  almost 
ferocious  industry.  Their  desires  are  centred  in  the  land, 
and  in  its  acquisition.  The  peasant  cultivator  dreams  of 
adding  fresh  fields  to  his  present  holding,  and  judges  the 
Government  by  its  ability  to  save  him  from  taxation  and, 
in  consequence,  increase  his  means  of  livelihood.  A  great 
part  of  the  peasant's  anxiety  to  secure  the  passing  of  the 
Income  Tax  by  Parliament  arises  from  his  conviction 
that  he  himself  will  not  have  to  pay  it,  but  that  the  burden 
will  be  borne  by  the  rich  who  live  in  the  towns,  and, 
perhaps,  by  the  foreigner — a  fit  victim  for  any  project  of  the 
sort.  His  politics,  therefore,  are  literally  "  terre-a-terre," 
though  he  likes  to  have  his  ears  tickled  with  high-sounding 
phrases  and  with  appeals  to  patriotism. 

The  real  wholesome  sentiment  of  France  comes,  never- 
theless, from  the  population  which  owns  and  works  the 
land.  This  is  the  silent  but  dominating  element  in 
French  politics.  The  country  restores  the  balance,  which 
tends  to  become  upset  by  the  towns.  In  the  large  centres 
of  industry  the  tendency  is  either  violently  reactionary  or 
violently  Socialist;  it  is  in  the  country,  amidst  the  quiet, 
hard-headed,  intensely  industrious  agriculturists,  that  you 
find  real  common  sense,  and  the  thrift  that  is  the  essential 
virtue  of  the  people.  Contact  with  the  land  brings 
sobriety  and  calmness  of  judgment.  It  is  also  true  that 
it  robs  a  man  of  that  acuteness  which  is  part  of  his  equip- 
ment in  the  towns.  Thus  the  French  peasant  is  the 
predestined  victim  of  the  speculative  Paris  banker,  who 
bombards  him  with  prospectuses  in  the  hope  of  attracting 
his  investments  to  his  bogus  or  doubtful  concerns.     The 


PARIS   AND   PROVINCIAL  SOCIETY  137 

"vereux"  banker  exists  at  every  street  corner  in  the 
metropolis — a  speculative  outside  broker  ready  for  any 
game.  In  his  service  is  a  daily  bulletin,  sent  broadcast 
through  the  post,  and  praising  the  stocks  he  handles.  Many 
hard  experiences  with  the  company  promoter  and  the  com- 
mission agent  have  made  the  peasant  wary.  Yet,  like 
many  suspicious  but  illiterate  people,  he  has  his  vulner- 
able parts,  which  are  more  open  to  the  unscrupulous  than 
the  scrupulous.  He  shuts  his  ears,  sometimes,  to  the 
legitimate  scheme  because  he  has  listened  to  the  enchant- 
ments of  the  wild-cat  promoter.  But,  in  a  general  way, 
he  clings  to  the  gilt-edge  securities  of  Municipal  loans  and 
Government  stock,  which  represent  the  least  risk  and 
guarantee  a  certain  regular  if  small  interest,  with  the 
prospect  of  a  lottery  bond. 

Country  society  is  the  weight  in  the  Republican  balance. 
Whilst  the  towns  may  vote,  hot-headedly,  Nationalist  or 
add  deputies  to  the  Revolutionary  wing,  the  country  will, 
on  the  contrary,  send  a  man  to  Parliament  pledged  to 
moderate  reforms.  Yet,  it  would  be  wrong  to  suppose 
that  materialism  always  guides  the  peasant  in  his  political 
proclivities.  Loyalty  to  the  Republic  will  inspire  him, 
sometimes,  to  sacrifices  against  his  pecuniary  interest.  An 
instance  was  furnished  by  the  Associations  Law,  which  the 
country  supported,  though  it  often  meant  local  loss.  In 
the  case  of  La  Grande  Chartreuse,  the  monks  had  estab- 
lished a  vast  and  profitable  industry  and  their  charities  in 
the  district  were  without  limits.  Yet,  when  it  became  a 
question  of  Republican  doctrine,  the  peasant  voters  sup- 
ported the  Government  in  its  war  upon  the  Orders.  The 
solid  Republicanisn  of  the  country  is  one  of  the  safeguards 
of  the  continuance  of  the  present  system. 

The  Church  once  had  a  great  hold  over  country  society, 
but  this  is  no  longer  true.      Disestablishment  has  robbed 


138  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

the  priest  of  prestige,  except  amongst  the  Faithful.  He 
is  no  longer  a  functionary  receiving  a  stipend  under  the 
Concordat,  but  a  free  and  independent  minister  of  what, 
"  au  fond,"  many  French  people  regard  as  a  foreign  insti- 
tution. If  the  Church  ceased  to  be  Roman,  and  became 
Gallic,  it  would  make,  probably,  greater  progress.  But,  in 
any  case,  the  power  of  the  priest  is  not  felt  in  Republican 
drawing-rooms  to  anything  like  the  old  extent,  and,  for 
the  most  part,  the  cure  finds  his  friends  at  the  chateau, 
where  dwell  the  great  folk  of  the  region. 

In  the  large  towns,  you  have,  of  course,  other  elements 
entering.  There  are  those  whose  existence  circulates  about 
the  theatres  and  the  "  foyers "  of  intellectual  endeavour. 
But  in  the  country  stimulus  of  the  sort  is  wanting,  and  one 
would  be  surprised  at  the  little  reading  done  by  the  pro- 
vincial French.  Part  of  the  "  crise  du  livre  "  comes  from 
the  fact  that  authors  find  only  an  infinitesimal  part  of 
their  circulation  outside  Paris  and  the  great  centres,  nor 
are  the  papers  read  to  the  extent  they  are  in  England,  ex- 
cept the  local  political  organ,  which  is  always  run  in  some- 
body's political  interest  and  attacks  violently  the  other  side, 
when  it  does  not  trumpet  forth  the  virtues  of  the  deputy, 
present  or  prospective. 

The  "  week-end  "  house  parties  have  not  anything  like 
the  same  vogue  in  France  that  they  have  in  England.  The 
country  chateaux  are  inhabited  for  certain  months  of  the 
year  by  rich  and  titled  members  of  society,  but  entertain- 
ments are  not  on  the  same  lavish  scale  as  in  the  hunting 
counties  of  England.  Theatricals  take  place,  it  is  true,  but 
social  life  is  usually  uneventful.  The  professional  class  of 
Frenchman  is  little  inclined  to  leave  its  business  occupa- 
tions for  long  together.  Among  that  class  the  "  week-end" 
is  practically  unknown  and  a  week's  shooting  or  fishing, 
otherwise  than  in  the  months  consecrated  to  recreation,  is 


PARIS  AND   PROVINCIAL  SOCIETY  139 

almost  unheard  of.  A  day  suffices,  and  the  sportsman  re- 
turns from  the  coverts  the  same  evening  to  resume  his 
professional  pursuits  on  the  morrow.  From  Paris  a  large 
region  is  shot  over  and  hunted,  including  Rambouillet,  the 
President's  estate,  to  which  the  national  guests,  diplomats, 
and  ministers  are  bidden  from  time  to  time ;.  from  the 
centres  of  provincial  France,  the  same  system  is  adopted. 
The  shooting  party  rarely  lasts  longer  than  one  day. 

The  Frenchman  lives  in  the  country  for  rest  or  to  pursue 
some  literary  or  scientific  project.  Very  rarely  does  he 
install  himself  there  with  the  object  of  entertaining,  or  of 
getting  taken  up  by  local  society.  If  a  functionary,  he 
regards  it  as  a  mere  stepping-stone  to  promotion ;  if  a 
business  man,  he  stays  there  because  he  must  and  in  the 
hope  of  amassing  a  fortune  sufficient  to  take  him  to  the 
metropolis,  where  he  may  end  his  days  in  congenial  sur- 
roundings. 

French  society,  like  English  society,  is  made  up  of  a 
thousand  different  elements  representing  conflicting  ambi- 
tions. There  is  the  exclusive  learned  society  of  Paris,  the 
society  that  radiates  from  the  College  de  France — the 
Paris  that  is  the  real  intellectual  Paris — the  centre  of 
advanced  thought  of  the  world  ;  there  is  the  obvious  Paris 
"  qui  s'amuse,"  the  Paris  of  gay  cosmopolitanism  with  more 
than  a  touch  of  the  "  rastaquouere  " — the  adventurer  of 
amazing  boldness  and  a  doubtful  past ;  then,  there  is  the 
respectable  conservative  and  "  pot-au-feu  "  middle  class, 
chiefly  concerned  with  its  own  affairs,  mixing  little  with 
the  outside  world,  shy  of  strangers  and  caring  not  at  all 
for  the  foreigner ;  and  there  is  that  other  class,  the  func- 
tionary, which  is  a  world  apart,  a  little  disdainful  of  the 
others.  Then  the  soldier  forms  his  own  compartment  in 
the  social  train ;  the  politician  belongs  to  another  group, 
and,  closely  behind  him— sometimes  literally  so — are  the 


140  FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

financiers,  speculators  of  all  sorts,  and  a  large  nondescript 
class  of  "  brasseurs  d'affaires." 

Whether  we  consider  the  Frenchman  as  an  owner  of 
the  soil  or  whether  we  consider  him  as  an  intellectual 
worker  in  the  towns,  an  engineer,  a  platelayer,  a  dock- 
labourer,  a  writer,  a  soldier,  a  sailor,  a  merchant,  a  dealer 
in  antiquities,  an  actor,  an  artist,  whatever  his  hold  on 
social  life,  we  generally  admire  him  and  admit  his  qualities. 
As  to  whether  the  edifice  of  which  he  forms  part  is  be- 
coming more  consolidated,  or  is  gradually  being  under- 
mined by  social  forces,  time  alone  will  decide.  In  any 
case,  the  palliatives  devised  by  temporizers  in  Parliament 
can  no  more  stay  the  evil  day — if  such  be  the  destiny  of 
modern  evolution — than  Mrs.  Partington's  mop  can  dry 
up  the  ocean. 


CHAPTER   IX  ^. 

PARIS   TO-DAY   AND   YESTERDAY 

IT  is  impossible  within  the  limits  of  a  chapter  to 
trace  in  detail  the  development  of  this  radiant  city — 
still  the  pleasantest  in  the  world  to  live  in.  It 
began  with  the  islands  in  the  Seine.  Here  is  the  cradle  of 
the  capital,  which  the  Romans  called  Lutetia.  Fronted  by 
the  Pont  Neuf  and  backed  by  Notre  Dame,  it  was  pro- 
tected by  towers,  of  which  only  the  names  remain  in 
the  Grand  and  Petit  Ch^telet.  In  feudal  times,  knights, 
priests  and  soldiers  grouped  themselves  about  the  strong- 
holds, and,  on  the  left  shore,  where  is  now  the  Latin 
Quarter,  sprang  into  existence  a  great  settlement  of 
students,  forerunners  of  those  light-hearted  folk  who  were 
presently  to  give  the  character  of  gaiety  to  this  region. 
Philip  Augustus  built  a  wall,  Charles  V  extended  it,  and 
the  Fifteenth  Louis  converted  the  line  of  "  bulwarks  "  into 
boulevards.  The  succeeding  Bourbons  put  a  new  girdle 
about  the  town,  which  had  outgrown  its  bounds. 

The  Revolution  left  little  time,  no  doubt,  for  town 
improvements:  the  reformers  were  busy  cutting  off 
heads,  not  planting  trees,  and  yet  the  Musee  of  the  Louvre, 
as  an  organized  collection,  dates  from  that  period. 
Napoleon  gave  much  glory  to  the  town  and  great  schemes 
of  municipal  improvement.  But  the  father  of  modern 
Paris  is  Baron  Haussmann,  the  Third  Napoleon's  Prefect 
of  the  Seine.  To  his  imagination  and  power  of  achieve- 
ment are  due   the   splendid   avenues   that   radiate   from 

141 


142  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

the  Etoile.  A  vast  sum  of  money  was  spent,  but  it  was 
probably  worth  it.  Though  the  most  economical  people 
in  the  world,  the  French  know  how  to  spend  when  the 
occasion  demands.  The  splendid  spaciousness  of  the  West 
End  has  attracted  capital,  and  sumptuous  hotels  and 
mansions  have  arisen  to  house  the  foreign  millionaire. 

Haussmann's  spirit  lives  to  some  extent  in  the  Municipal 
Council.  It,  also,  would  do  things  on  the  grand  scale  and 
is  minded  to  sweep  away  the  fortifications — now  perfectly 
useless  for  military  purposes  and  a  mere  dormitory  for  the 
Apaches — and,  in  their  place,  set  up  houses  surrounded 
by  gardens  and  public  parks.  Such  a  scheme  would 
beautify  and  render  more  salubrious  the  "eccentric" 
districts  of  the  city  as  well  as  vastly  increase  the 
rateable  values.  Part  of  this  twentieth-century  dream  of 
progress  concerns  the  utilization  of  the  Palais  Royal  as  a 
great  central  station  to  be  connected  by  underground 
lines  with  the  chief  termini.  A  singular  fate  for  the  palace 
built  for  Richelieu,  whose  corridors  have  resounded  to  the 
red  heels  of  the  gallants  and  whose  trees  and  fountains 
have  overheard  the  secrets  of  grandes  dames !  In  Bal- 
zac's day  it  was  the  gambling  centre  of  the  town,  as  the 
moving  description  in  the  "  Peau  de  Chagrin  "  tells  us. 

Municipal  reform  deals  hardly  with  romance.  It  sweeps 
ruthlessly.  The  beautiful  and  historic  die  daily  in  Paris. 
The  speculative  builder  tears  down  the  old  to  put  up  the 
"  maison  de  rapport."  It  is  the  inexorable  law.  Nothing 
can  resist  progress,  as  we  moderns  understand  it,  in  this 
essentially  modern  Paris.  Beneath  the  ponderous  wheels 
of  Juggernaut  lies  crushed  and  bleeding  much  poetry  of 
the  past.  Delightful  old  gateways  have  gone,  fantastic 
doorways,  wonderful  old  mansions  that  sheltered  kings 
and  princes,  or  some  splendid  fabric  of  the  past,  pinched 
and  starved  in  its  surroundings,  looks  no   longer   in   its 


PARIS   TO-DAY   AND   YESTERDAY  143 

place.  These  are  the  victims  of  the  law  of  interpene- 
tration,  that  logical  and  swift  instinct  of  the  French  which 
makes  them  go  straight  when  they  build  a  road.  Mme 
Recamier's  Abbaye-au-Bois,  where  she  held  court  to 
Chateaubriand,  and  other  of  her  admirers,  was  sacrificed 
to  the  Boulevard  Raspail — a  great  new  pathway  cut 
through  the  Quarter,  which  has  opened  up  vistas  un- 
expected and  inspiring.  The  Rue  de  Rennes,  which 
Municipal  Councillors  would  lengthen  into  the  historic  Rue 
de  Bonaparte,  passes  through  the  garden  of  the  Carmes, 
with  its  dread  memories  of  the  September  massacres, 
when  one  hundred  and  fifty  priests  were  butchered  by 
revolutionaries.  This  is  one  of  the  spots  where  history 
has  been  written — written  in  blood.  Immediately  behind 
the  church  of  the  Carmelites  sat  the  Revolutionary 
Tribunal  to  decide  upon  the  fate  of  prisoners.  Above  a 
short  flight  of  steps  is  the  narrow  garret  where  Josephine 
de  Beauharnais  lay — captured  with  her  husband,  and  little 
dreaming,  in  those  days,  of  Imperial  state.  On  the  walls 
are  still  traces  of  the  blood  wiped  from  the  sabres  of  those 
who  had  slain  the  priests  in  the  garden  ;  a  peaceful  sundial 
now  marks  the  spot  where  fell  the  first  victim. 

History !  The  city  is  full  of  it,  and  this  very  quarter  of 
the  Rue  de  Vaugirard  has  more  than  its  share.  The  church 
of  St.  Sulpice,  near  by,  witnessed  the  wedding  of  Camille 
Desmoulins  and  Lucile  Duplessis.  It  was  a  romance  that 
affected  the  public,  even  in  those  cruel  times.  Of  the 
crowd  that  came  to  see  them  wed,  how  many,  I  wonder, 
came  to  roar  at  them  when  they  mounted  the  scaffold  ? 
a  week's  interval  separating  their  deaths.  When  Desmoulins 
wrote  tracts  favourable  to  the  Revolution,  he  little  knew 
the  tiger  he  was  raising  in  the  breasts  of  the  people.  Near 
by,  at  the  Luxembourg,  where  sit  the  greybeards  of  the 
Republic,  the  condemned  man  wrote  letters  to  his  love  that 


144  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

are  stained  with  tears.  In  the  courtyard,  where  senatorial 
wisdom  passes  into  the  hall  of  assembly,  the  prisoners 
of  the  Terror  took  their  exercise.  Robespierre  was  brought 
here  and  refused  admittance  for  want  of  room.  Associations 
of  a  softer  kind  belong  to  the  little-changed  Renaissance 
garden,  where  Trilby  and  her  admirers  still  walk  hand-in- 
hand,  unconscious  of  a  prosaic  world.  It  was  here  that 
Marie  de  Medici  gave  her  fetes. 

The  monastic  calm  of  the  streets  about  the  church  of  St. 
Sulpice  contrasts  with  the  rude  revelry  of  the  BouF  Mich', 
with  its  corps  of  students  moved,  occasionally,  to  manifest 
out  of  sheer  buoyancy  of  spirits.  Time  and  modern  exi- 
gencies have  laid  a  rude  hand  upon  this  romantic  country. 
It  is  hardly  romantic  any  more.  It  is  almost  Bourgeois.  The 
students  are  earnest  folk  to-day.  Examinations  require  it. 
Few  English  people  realize  how  hard  these  young  men  work. 
The  mental  endurance  of  the  French  and  their  capacity  for 
continuous  pains  astonish  even  the  laborious  Germans. 

Dominating  this  district  is  the  Panthdon,  which,  once  a 
church,  is  now  a  sepulchre.  The  dead  have  their  politics 
as  well  as  the  living.  Fate  has  pursued  the  Revolution- 
aries even  in  their  graves.  Some  are  "  d^pantheonised," 
and  others  have  assumed,  in  their  stead,  the  crown  of 
public  recognition.  Marat  took  the  place  of  Mirabeau, 
posthumously  declared  to  be  a  traitor  to  the  cause.  Then 
came  Hugo,  in  1885.  Twenty  years  later  it  was  the  turn 
of  Zola  to  be  carried  to  the  home  of  heroes.  Dreyfus,  a 
spectator  of  the  honour  done  to  his  defender,  was  shot  at 
and  wounded  by  a  military  writer,  named  Gregori.  As  a 
witness  of  this  exciting  scene,  there  came  to  me  the  real- 
ization of  the  full  force  of  party  prejudice  in  France,  since 
it  vented  itself  upon  a  man's  ashes.  Here  the  beauty  of  a 
splendid  ceremony,  with  its  grandiose  catafalque,  its  burn- 
ing  tapers  and    the  statuesque  figure  of  its  guards,  was 


PARIS  TO-DAY  AND  YESTERDAY  145 

rudely  disturbed  by  an  exhibition  of  the  cruellest  sort  of 
rancour  and  political  spite. 

The  "Ancienne  Noblesse,"  whom,  by  his  gesture,  the 
"demonstrator"  intended,  perhaps,  to  represent,  inhabits 
the  Faubourg,  which,  in  its  lower  section,  bisects  the 
Boulevard  St.  Michel.  The  Boulevard  St.  Germain 
nominally  stands  for  all  that  is  left  of  the  authentic 
nobility,  though  its  wealthier  members  actually  live  near 
the  Etoile.  If,  in  their  disdain  of  the  Republic  and  all  its 
works,  they  remain  outside  the  movement  of  the  day,  they 
have  yet  a  virtue  less  negative  in  its  results :  a  whole- 
some freedom  from  all  scandal.  The  Faubourg  never 
appears  in  the  divorce  court,  nor  is  it  mixed  in  those  dis- 
figuring "  affaires "  which  have  been  too  frequent  in  the 
history  of  the  last  half-century. 

A  narrow  street  by  the  river,  the  Rue  Gu^n^gaud,  har- 
bours quite  other  memories.  Here  Mme  Roland  enter- 
tained Danton  and  Robespierre  in  her  days  of  influence 
over  the  Girondins. 

The  ground  where  the  Hotel-Dieu  stood,  on  the  Left 
Bank,  opposite  Notre  Dame,  is  saturated  with  history. 
This  old  hospital  of  Paris,  which  has  disappeared  in  a 
cloud  of  dust,  was  quaint  and  interesting,  though  un- 
worthy of  its  functions,  judged  in  the  light  of  modern 
medicine.  It  is  the  site  of  the  Petit  -  Chatelet,  which 
guarded  the  western  end  of  the  He  de  la  Cite. 

The  destruction  of  the  Hdtel-Dieu  brought  the  curious 
old  chapel  of  St.  Julien-le-Pauvre  into  high  relief.  It,  like 
the  church  of  St.  Severin,  close  by,  celebrated  by  Huys- 
mans  for  its  Gothic  beauties,  is  losing  its  picturesque,  if 
disreputable,  border  of  old  houses  that  lean  against  one 
another  as  if  conspiring  against  the  commonweal.  The 
spoiling  of  the  frame  has  affected  the  picture,  but  the 
change  of  externals  cannot  alter  the  cloistered  sense  and 
10 


146  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

meditative  beauty  of  the  interior,  where  light  comes  softly 
through  coloured  glass,  wrapping  the  visitor  in  a  cloak  of 
mystery  and  contemplative  calm. 

The  old  grey  Institut  and  La  Monnaie  (the  Mint)  remain 
unspoiled  memorials  of  an  age  when  the  world  was  less 
fleet  of  foot,  less  haunted  by  the  phantom  care,  with  tran- 
quillity enough  to  pause  a  moment  by  the  Pont  des  Arts  and 
gaze  down  upon  the  river,  with  its  strange  and  distinctive 
population.  There  is  the  red-sashed  labourer  shovelling 
sand  from  barges,  the  dog-barber  is  hard  at  work  clipping 
an  old  maid's  darling,  who  strongly  objects  to  the  process  ; 
a  washerwoman,  with  blowzy  face  encircled  in  a  bright 
kerchief,  leans  from  the  window  of  her  bath-house,  whilst  a 
long  line  of  fishermen,  behind  her  habitation,  are  sublime 
in  their  attitude  of  patience.  The  bargee  shows  stalwart 
skill  in  the  conduct  of  his  craft,  towed  behind  a  puffing 
tug,  and  the  swift  steamers  pass,  bearing  their  burden  of 
humanity  from  the  suburbs.  Upon  the  quayrside,  the 
book-boxes  of  the  second-hand  dealers  are  perched  upon 
the  stone  walls,  and  learned  Academicians  pause  a 
moment,  with  bended  back,  to  examine  their  treasures. 

Napoleon  lived  on  these  quiet  quays  as  a  young  man 
attending  the  Ecole  Militaire.  One  wonders  whether  he 
felt  the  "  genius  loci "  of  this  classic  region  as  he  dried  his 
patched  top-boots  by  the  log-fire  in  his  garret:  the  tiny 
apartment  is  still  to  be  seen  by  those  with  a  gift  for  dis- 
covery. Certainly,  the  riparian  battlements  form  a 
delightful  promenade  for  such  as  would  contemplate  the 
city.  Especially  at  night,  when  the  shadows  fall  upon  the 
water,  the  spectacle  is  one  of  enchantment,  recalling 
Venice.  Boats  dart  beneath  the  bridges,  their  red  eyes 
weirdly  shining  ;  there  is  the  hoarse  voice  of  the  siren, 
signalling  the  lock-keeper  of  the  Pont  Neuf  and  speaking 
of  great   affairs ;  and  across   the   dark,   shadow-dancing 


PARIS   TO-DAY   AND   YESTERDAY  147 

stream,  are  the  myriad  lights  of  the  city,  with  its  feverish 
activity — a  city  which  never  sleeps,  and  where  the  home- 
going  roysterer  meets  honest  labour  at  its  toil  in  the 
markets  or  the  streets,  or  some  ghostly  band  of  scavengers, 
fleeing  the  dawn  like  dark  spirits  of  the  night. 

Notre  Dame  and  Sainte  Chapelle  still  speak  of  the 
glories  of  "  la  Cite,"  of  the  days  when  there  were  eighteen 
churches  upon  the  island.  No  building  has  had  a  more 
intimate  connection  with  the  Revolution  than  the  Con- 
ciergerie.  Delicate  women  were  herded  in  its  foul  prisons  : 
the  victims  of  that  terrible  time  all  mounted  the  steps 
leading  to  the  Cour  de  Mai.  The  Queen  and  Charlotte 
Corday,  Mme  de  Bailly,  the  Abbess  of  Montmartre, 
generals  and  princesses,  dukes  and  duchesses  crossed  the 
fatal  threshold  and,  on  the  way,  received  the  insults  and 
the  filth  flung  by  the  mob,  which,  with  hungry  eyes,  gloated 
over  the  spectacle  of  aristocracy  in  distress.  A  railing 
still  exists  separating  the  actual  prison  from  the  women's 
yard.  Mme  Roland,  the  pathetic  Lucile  Desmoulins, 
Mme  de  Montmorency  touched  it  with  their  dresses,  and 
Du  Barry,  one  of  the  few  women  who  trembled  at  the 
prospect  of  death,  clung  to  it.  Alas  !  everything  has  been 
changed  within  the  prison,  and  the  dungeon  where  Marie 
Antoinette  was  incarcerated  during  the  last  month  of  her 
life  is  completely  altered. 

Memories  of  the  old  days  crowd  about  the  Place  des 
Vosges,  where  Mme  de  Sevigne  lived,  and  Marion 
Delorme,  and  where  Victor  Hugo  wrote  some  of  his  finest 
work.  Architecturally,  the  Place  has  little  changed,  but 
its  fine  inhabitants  have  departed.  Families  of  Jews  of 
the  old  type  live  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  old  men  in 
gaberdines,  and  handsome  girls — velvet-eyed  and  richly 
dressed,  with  the  dark  complexions  of  the  race,  attend  the 
services  of  the  neighbouring  synagogue. 


148        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

There  is  no  part  of  Paris  where  signs  of  departing 
greatness  are  more  pitifully  apparent.  The  grand  old 
mansions  that  housed  the  great  folk  of  former  days,  many 
of  them  with  distinguished  histories,  have  been  turned  to 
the  base  uses  of  a  petty  commerce.  In  the  Barres  mansion 
in  the  street  of  that  name,  Augustin  Robespierre  was 
brought  in  with  broken  legs  after  his  attempt  at  suicide 
from  the  Town  Hall  windows.  On  the  morrow,  he  was 
sent  by  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  to  the  scaffold.  Forty 
years  later,  there  were  revolutionary  scenes  in  the  Rue  de 
Venise,  where  the  last  of  the  barricades  of  1830  was  erected. 
The  "  frondeur  "  spirit  lives  to-day  in  this  quarter  of  Saint 
Merri,  but,  unfortunately,  it  takes  the  form  of  hostility  to 
the  police.     The  "  revoltes  "  are  not  an  interesting  class. 

The  Arsenal  Library,  in  the  Rue  de  Sully,  contains 
documents  of  absorbing  interest  that  bear  upon  the  history 
of  France.  Who  can  look  unmoved  upon  the  death 
certificate  of  the  Man  with  the  Iron  Mask,  Saint  Louis' 
Book  of  Hours,  with  a  portion  of  his  royal  robes,  the 
record  of  the  cross-examination  of  the  Marquise  de  Brin- 
villiers  in  the  celebrated  poisoning  case,  Henri  IV's  love 
letters  addressed  to  the  Marquise  de  Verneuil,  and  the 
documents  relating  to  the  Affair  of  the  Necklace  ? 

Quite  a  different  atmosphere  is  breathed  when  we  come 
to  the  Halles :  the  great  central  markets  of  Paris,  A  sign 
with  the  figure  of  an  avenging  angel  upon  it — is  it  a  deli- 
cate allusion  to  the  police  ?  betokens  the  haunt  of  Apaches 
— the  Burglars'  Maxim,  it  has  been  called.  The  building 
has  been  condemned  by  the  Municipality.  Near  by,  are  the 
Caveau  des  Innocents  and  La  Belle  de  Nuit,  which,  despite 
their  titles,  have  no  claim  either  to  innocence  or  beauty. 

Montmartre  presents  another  sort  of  Paris,  which  needs 
no  introduction  to  English  or  Americans.  It  is  the  classic 
ground  of  the  tourist  and  deals  in  amusements  of  a  peculiar 


PARIS   TO-DAY   AND   YESTERDAY  149 

kind.  Gone  is  the  vogue  of  its  "  cabarets  artistiques,"  of 
its  chansonniers  whom  all  Paris  went  to  hear  in  the  days 
of  the  Chat  Noir.  The  modern  survivals  of  these  places 
are  but  pale  shadows  of  their  former  selves,  without  the 
redeeming  grace  of  the  "  Attic  salt,"  which  always  seasoned 
the  gibes  of  the  former  artistes.  And  yet  there  is  a 
district  of  Montmartre  extremely  curious,  which  hides 
provincial  calm  and  seclusion  in  its  old-fashioned  streets. 
Certain  of  the  byways  on  the  sacred  Butte,  behind  the 
towering  mass  of  the  basilica  of  Sacre  Coeur,  preserve  a 
delightful  air  of  aloofness  and  have  no  part  in  those  lurid 
and  commercialized  attractions  that  belong  to  the  life  of 
the  lower  and  more  accessible  stretches  of  Montmartre. 
Chickens  run  about  the  road,  the  vine  grows  upon  walls, 
there  are  country  sights  and  sounds  in  a  thatched  cottage, 
and  the  crowing  of  cocks ;  this  is  a  rural  Montmartre 
unsuspected  by  the  visitors,  who  content  themselves  with 
the  garish  pleasures  of  the  slopes. 

Then,  when  we  come  to  central  Paris,  we  think  neces- 
sarily of  the  Boulevards.  The  difference  is  enormous 
between  this  great  highway  of  to-day  and  yesterday. 
Fifty  years  ago,  the  Boulevards  were  still  the  resort  of  wit 
and  fashion,  they  were  still  haunted  by  the  "  chroniqueur," 
by  the  financier,  by  the  man-about-town.  Everybody 
who  was  anybody  took  care  to  show  himself  in  this  great 
stretch  of  pavement  from  the  Madeleine  to  the  Bastille, 
or  rather,  in  that  section  of  it  contained  between  the 
Theatre  des  Varietes  and  the  Place  de  I'Opera.  Now  all  is 
changed.  This  great  thoroughfare  is  still  interesting,  but 
in  a  different  way.  It  still  reflects  the  life  of  the  capital, 
but  it  is  rather  the  tourist  life  than  the  real  native,  intimate 
life  of  Paris,  the  great  cosmopolitan  city.  Whilst  it  has 
increased  in  amenities  of  life,  it  has  lost  immeasurably 
in  charm.     The    "flaneur"    has   been    improved   out   of 


ISO  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

existence.  How  is  it  possible  to  "  flaner  "  when  automo- 
biles travel  at  break-neck  pace  through  the  streets  ?  and 
when  all  is  whirl  and  bustle  ?  And  yet,  when  compared 
with  London  or  New  York,  Paris  is  still  a  city  of  compara- 
tive leisure,  where  people  manage  to  live  simple  and 
unaffected  lives  and,  in  spite  of  the  growing  price  of  things, 
contrive  to  save.     O  potent  word  in  France ! 

There  is,  indeed,  something  changed  from  the  Paris  of 
the  Empire.  The  brilliant  spectacle  of  a  Court,  of  people 
marching  in  the  street  to  the  strains  of  a  band  and  crying 
"  Vive  I'Empereur  ! "  is  no  more.  Other  times,  other  man- 
ners. The  Paris  of  our  fathers  was  a  Paris  of  swinging 
signs :  here  a  golden  boot,  signifying  the  industry  of  the 
shoemaker  ;  there  a  stupendous  key,  such  as  a  giant  might 
use  to  gain  entrance  to  his  castle,  to  bespeak  the  lock- 
smith, or  a  Brobdingnagian  pair  of  scissors,  symbolizing  the 
tailor's  trade.  The  houses  almost  touched.  The  narrow, 
dark  little  streets  offered  a  striking  contrast  with  the  broad 
avenues  of  the  present  day.  The  restaurants  had  their 
regular  habitues,  who  never  changed.  The  most  famous 
were  Tortoni's,  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  Taitbout ; 
Bignon's,  in  the  Avenue  de  I'Opera  ;  the  Maison  Doree,  the 
Cafe  Anglais  and  the  Cafe  Riche  on  the  Boulevard  des 
Italiens.  The  last  two  still  exist,  but  their  character  has 
changed.  In  Balzac's  day,  a  long  line  of  footmen,  with 
powdered  wigs,  stood  before  the  door  of  the  Cafe  Anglais. 
Over  the  way,  was  the  Maison  Doree.  Whenever  a  fourth 
player  was  needed  at  cards,  a  signal  issued  from  an  upper 
window,  and,  presently,  the  required  recruit  was  threading 
his  way  across  the  boulevard  to  join  his  friends. 

From  the  balcony  of  this  famous  house,  scenes  of  popu- 
lar excitement  were  witnessed,  the  crowd  crying :  "  A 
Berlin ! "  in  the  opening  days  of  the  war  and  that  same 
crowd  growling  the  sinister   "  A    bas    I'Empire "  a    few 


PARIS   TO-DAY   AND   YESTERDAY  151 

months  later.  There  was  a  brilliant  gathering  about  the 
tables  of  the  Maison  Doree  in  the  early  years  of  the 
Republic.  Of  that  band  scarcely  any  remain.  "  Between 
the  pear  and  the  cheese  "  there  was  a  flow  of  wit  and  an 
exchange  of  badinage :  the  real  conversational  cuisine. 
This  is  the  atmosphere  in  which  books  are  born.  The 
younger  Dumas,  Victorien  Sardou,  Awelien  Scholl, 
Massenet,  Catulle  Mendes  were  prominent  members  of 
the  Boulevard  Parliament.  Many  a  piece  of  literature 
was  beaten  out,  glowing,  upon  the  anvil  of  the  Golden 
House.  It  is  within  quite  recent  years  that  Tortoni's  and 
the  Maison  Doree  have  disappeared.  To  the  last,  the  rings 
used  by  the  guests  to  attach  their  horses  were  to  be  seen 
on  the  walls  of  Tortoni's. 

The  metamorphosis  from  a  fashionable  promenade  to  a 
bustling  business  thoroughfare,  given  up  to  a  boisterous 
trade  in  cheap  jewellery,  phonographs,  and  cinematographs, 
has  not  been  for  the  glory  of  Paris.  If  it  is  still  a  street 
far  from  the  commonplace,  if  it  is  still  the  foyer  of  Paris 
news,  the  gathering  ground  of  journalists,  of  business  and 
professional  men,  it  lacks  its  old  cachet  and  distinction. 
Its  fashionable  vogue  has  passed  and  it  has  become  the 
throbbing  heart  of  a  great  business  community,  the  centre 
of  a  cosmopolitan  world.  Persiflage  and  the  light  banter 
of  wits  and  litterateurs  have  been  exchanged  for  politics 
and  the  latest  gossip  of  the  Bourse.  And  yet,  it  has  its 
fascination,  this  great  broad  sweep  of  pavement,  which,  in 
medieval  times,  marked  the  bulwarks  of  the  city.  Sitting 
at  one  of  its  numerous  cafes,  you  may  look  on  life  in  as 
varied  an  aspect  as  anywhere  in  Europe.  Has  not  the 
"  terrasse  "  of  the  Cafe  de  la  Paix,  where  the  Boulevard 
des  Capucines  broadens  into  the  Place  de  I'Opera,  been 
called  the  "corner  of  the  world"? 

If  wit  and  fashion  no  longer  promenade  on  the  Boulevard 


152  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

of  the  Italians,  at  least  there  is  such  an  assembly  of 
cosmopolitans,  such  a  rush  and  whirl  of  life,  such  a 
concentration  of  interest,  such  a  continual  feast  of 
vivid  impression  as  no  other  city  presents.  The 
Boulevards  are,  certainly,  typical  of  modern  Paris,  of 
the  vast  change  that  has  taken  place  in  the  economy  of 
the  city  during  the  past  fifty  years.  There  is  as  much 
difference  between  medieval  Paris  and  the  Paris  of  the 
Revolution  as  between  the  city  of  the  Second  Empire  and 
of  to-day. 

Change  is  visible  everywhere — in  the  Latin  Quarter,  as 
elsewhere.  It  is  only  occasionally  that  youth  and  high 
spirits  assert  themselves, and  kiosks  are  burned,  as  in  the 
Dreyfus  case,  or  authority  "  conspewed  "  because  of  a  little 
misunderstanding  on  the  subject  of  examinations.  Yet  the 
days  are  clearly  gone  of  which  Henri  Miirger  wrote  so 
amusingly  in  "  La  Vie  de  Boheme."  It  is  hardly  to  be 
supposed  that  the  ramshackle  tenements  in  which  his 
joyous  heroes  lived  would  now  be  tolerated  by  the  aediles. 
How  can  you  be  Bohemian  in  a  brand-new  house  with  gas 
and  water  on  every  floor  ?  You  must  have  houses  almost 
touching  to  preserve  that  intimate  feeling  so  essential  to 
the  real  thing.  Trilby-land  has,  indeed,  changed  since  the 
days  when  Little  Billy  and  his  comrades  made  merry  in  a 
house  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Ecole  de  Medecine. 
Alas,  it  has  now  fallen  to  the  house-breaker's  pick  and 
its  buoyant  roseate  dreams  have  disappeared  with  its 
walls.  O  that  joyous  band,  how  care-free  it  was  !  To-day 
the  student  is  a  serious  soul.  He  takes  the  tramcar  to 
his  home  of  an  evening  and  actually  wears  evening  dress 
on  ceremonious  occasions  ! 

Another  part,  which  has  changed  with  the  changing 
years,  is  the  Champs  Elysees,  which,  in  comparatively  re- 
cent times,  finished  at  the  Rond  Point.     Hereabouts,  was 


PARIS   TO-DAY   AND   YESTERDAY  153 

the  Jardin  de  Mabille.  In  Empire  days — it  hardly  survived 
the  Third  Republic — it  stood  in  the  same  relation  to  the 
life  of  Paris  as  the  Cremorne  Gardens  to  an  older  genera- 
tion of  Londoners.  But,  gone  are  the  neighbouring  ram- 
shackle buildings,  which  housed  thieves  and  desperadoes. 

Paris  has,  however,  many  unspoiled  corners  where  the 
fragrance  of  old  times  lingers,  where  the  eye  is  captivated 
and  the  heart  gladdened  by  some  delightful  souvenir. 
Such  vestiges  remain  in  the  region  of  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes,  one  of  the  retired  nooks  of  Paris.  Others  may 
be  found  on  the  Left  Bank  where,  for  the  moment,  one 
may  believe  oneself  in  another  country,  far  removed  from 
the  stress  and  bustle  of  a  great  world-centre  of  affairs. 
The  stream  eddies  round  these  chosen  spots  and  leaves 
them  almost  untouched. 

Intellectual  Paris — how  often  it  is  disregarded  by  the 
stranger  who  speaks  as  if  Maxim's  and  the  Moulin  Rouge 
constituted  the  whole  city  ! — shelters  itself  in  the  region  of 
the  Sorbonne  and  the  splendid  College  de  France.  It  is 
a  closed  corporation,  this  intellectual  world,  save  to  those 
who  possess  the  golden  key  of  intellectual  sympathy  and 
comprehension — the  real  Paris,  but  the  Paris  unattainable 
to  the  casual  tourist.  This  side  is  generally  neglected  and 
unknown  by  those  who  would  guide  our  steps  across  the 
glittering  pathway  of  the  past. 

If  there  is  an  unspoiled  Paris  of  pure  delight,  the  in- 
habitants of  which  combine  culture  and  the  highest  civiliza- 
tion with  much  simplicity  of  life,  there  is  equally  the 
blatant  pushful  Paris  of  the  soulless  plutocrat.  A  vast 
change  is  passing,  swift  as  a  shadow  across  the  face  of  the 
sky.  The  motor  vehicles,  replacing  the  three-horsed  'bus, 
and  the  electric  undergrounds  have  carried  off  much  that 
was  attractive  and  leisurely  in  old  Paris.  Is  it  surprising 
that  the  Parisians  have  lost  their  gaiety  since  the  war? 


154  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

And  how  can  they  hope  to  recover  it  on  German  beer, 
drunk  instead  of  the  light  wines  of  the  country  ?  If  Paris 
yielded  to  the  Prussians  in  1871,  to-day  its  conquerors  are 
drawn  from  the  two  Americas.  Lust  of  gold  has  been  too 
much  for  light-heartedness.  Much  cattle,  much  care.  The 
French  grow  rich.     The  happy  whistler  is  still  shirtless. 

Even  the  aroma  has  departed,  the  subtle  perfume  of 
flowers  which  seemed  to  hang  in  the  air  of  Paris.  In  its 
place  is  the  rancid  smell  of  motor-oil.  The  vulgar  atmo- 
sphere of  the  Boulevards  and  the  exotic  character  of  the 
hotels,  are  further  stages  in  corruption.  Much  of  the  old 
distinction  has  departed  never,  probably,  to  return.  Yet 
the  stranger  recognizes  what  is  being  done  for  him  in  new 
hotels  and  arrives  in  greater  numbers  each  year.  It  is  the 
worship  of  the  Golden  Calf  that  is  disturbing  the  dream 
of  Paris — bearer  of  the  proud  title  of  "  la  Ville  Lumiere." 

As  to  the  future  of  the  city,  it  would  seem  to  be  again 
and  yet  again  in  the  direction  of  wealth  and  greater  wealth 
— of  luxury  and  the  cosmopolitan  appeal.  Yet,  who  can 
forget  its  dazzling  history  ?  As  we  leave  the  crowd  behind 
and  penetrate  some  old  retiring  street,  which  speaks  in 
quiet  accents  of  the  days  that  are  no  more,  we  feel  thankful 
that  we  know  our  Paris  and  can  read  its  secrets. 

And  may  there  not  be  some  new  and  strange  destiny  in 
store  for  this  amazing  city,  which  has  witnessed  bloody 
Revolution,  Commune,  Empire,  Kingdom  and  Republic? 
For  the  moment,  it  seems  to  be  in  the  grip  of  com- 
mercialism, the  pleasure-ground  of  England  and  America, 
of  Europe  and  the  world  in  general ;  but  to-morrow,  the 
shiver  of  the  unexpected  may  pass  through  its  lethargic 
marrow,  awakening  it  to  new  life  and  sensibility. 

But  whatever  be  the  Paris  of  to-morrow,  it  must  remain 
a  glittering  example — a  warning,  if  you  will — but  likewise 
a  stimulus  of  no  common  kind. 


CHAPTER    X 
A    POLITICAL    PICTURE 

FORTY-FOUR  Ministries  have  expired  (Easter, 
191 1)  since  the  foundation  of  the  Third  Republic. 
Those  Ministries  have  been  led  by  men  of  the 
prominence  of  Gambetta,  the  Due  de  Broglie,  Thiers, 
Jules  Ferry,  Fallieres,  Loubet,  Waldeck-Rousseau,  Clemen- 
ceau  and  Aristide  Briand.  M.  Armand  Fallieres,  the  pre-  c 
sent  President,  had  the  distinction  of  conducting  one  of 
the  shortest  Ministries  in  the  history  of  the  Republic,  his 
Government  lasting  a  fortnight.  In  any  consideration  of 
the  actual  regime  in  France,  it  is  as  well  to  remember  that 
the  present  Republic  has  only  existed  for  a  couple  of 
generations.  You  cannot  expect  a  work  of  great  solidity 
to  be  effected  in  so  short  a  time,  so  brief  a  space  in  the 
life  of  a  nation.  And  the  defects  that  are  observable  in 
the  French  system  are  largely  traceable  to  the  newness  to 
office  of  the  present  ruling  class.  They  are  not  accus- 
tomed to  the  saddle.  Ministers,  whose  origin  was  humble, 
do  not  readily  become  habituated  to  the  use  and  responsi- 
bilities of  power.  Civic  courage  requires  "race"  behind 
it.  This  may  be  a  reactionary  sentiment,  but  it  is  true. 
The  virtues  of  the  English  system  reside  in  the  fact  that 
its  ruling  classes  have  hitherto  been  born  to  the  purple 
and  have  the  coolness  of  nerve,  which  so  often  accompanies 
breeding,  and  is  so  essential  a  quality  in  times  of  crisis. 
But  circumstances  are  tending  to  give  the  dominant  party 

155 


156  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

in  France  a  sense  of  permanence  in  power.  The  result 
is  that  a  type  of  man  is  being  evolved  who,  Opportunist  as 
he  may  be,  can  yet  preserve  a  dignified  attitude  in  the  face 
of  popular  clamour.  What  is  the  tendency  of  to-day  ?  Does 
France  progress  in  the  sense  of  a  wider  democracy  ?  Or 
is  she  harking  back  to  the  days  of  kingship  and  Empire  ? 

Let  us  take  the  point  of  departure  with  the  point 
already  gained.  Compare,  if  you  will,  M.  Thiers  with 
Aristide  Briand,  who  retired,  after  a  second  term  of  office, 
in  the  Spring  of  191 1.  Thiers  would  now  be  regarded  as 
hopelessly  old-fashioned  ;  certainly,  his  views  are  wide  as 
the  poles  apart  from  those  of  the  recent  holder  of  the 
premiership.  The  man  to  whom  history  has  given  the 
proud  title  of  the  Liberator  of  the  Territory,  imagined  a 
Republic  which  should  prepare  the  way  for  a  constitutional 
monarchy.  Now,  no  one  dreams  of  a  constitutional 
monarchy — none,  at  least,  save  those  who  are  hopelessly 
antiquated,  or  hopelessly  Quixotic  in  their  ideas.  Aristide 
Briand  is  representative  of  France  of  to-day;  he  is  the 
modern  typical  politician. 

He  began  life  with  more  than  a  coquetry  of  Socialism. 
In  his  younger  days  at  the  Bar — he  is  not  yet  fifty — he 
defended  revolutionaries  and  anti-militarists.  Part  of  his 
fame  was  gained  by  his  speech  on  behalf  of  Herv6, 
notorious  for  his  theories  of  a  "pacificisme  a  outrance." 
Another  famous  "proces,"  in  which  he  was  engaged,  entailed 
a  defence  of  incendiarism  as  a  weapon  for  strikers. 

From  such  beginnings  M.  Briand  has  evolved  into  the 
moderate,  even  slightly  conservative,  statesman.  He  has 
changed  his  side  of  the  barrier,  to  use  the  picturesque 
phrase  of  M.  Clemenceau  uttered  in  other  circumstances. 
In  doing  so,  he  has  brought  all  his  baggage  of  oratory,  all 
his  arts  of  persuasion,  to  the  conservation  of  order  and  to 
the  consolidation  of  the  work  of  the  Republic.    One  of  the 


A   POIJTICAL   PICTURE  157 

crimes  imputed  to  him  by  the  Jacobins  of  the  Chamber, 
causing  his  resignation  during  his  second  Ministry,  was 
that  he  held  out  the  oHve  branch  with  too  frank  a  hand 
to  the  Church  party.  Whatever  our  sympathies  in  the 
struggle  between  Church  and  State  in  France,  we  must 
feel  that  the  actual  document,  pronouncing  the  divorce, 
was  both  seemly  and  statesmanlike.  It  threw  the  onus 
of  rejection  upon  the  Church,  and  the  Church,  being 
guided  by  an  intransigeant  Pope,  would  accept  no  favours 
from  a  Government,  which,  in  the  person  of  the  President  of 
the  Republic,  had  slighted  its  head.  In  returning  the  visit 
of  Victor  Emmanuel  to  Paris,  M.  Loubet  (as  I  point  out  in 
Chapter  VII)  paid  his  respects  to  the  Quirinal  and  disre- 
garded the  Vatican,  though  custom  directed  that  the  chief 
of  a  Catholic  State  should  first  visit  the  Sovereign  Pontiff. 

Statesmanlike  or  not,  conciliatory  or  the  reverse,  the 
Separation  Act  has  failed  to  satisfy  Catholic  opinion  in 
France.  The  result  of  Clerical  defiance  is  not  easy  to  fore- 
see, except  as  bringing  upon  the  Church  grave  and  in- 
superable financial  difficulties.  Nor  does  the  future  give 
warrant  for  optimism.  In  the  schools,  where  the  name  of 
God  is  not  allowed  to  be  pronounced,  where,  as  the 
Bishops  have  declared,  the  teaching  is  hostile  to  religion 
— by  inference,  if  not  directly — it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  citizens  are  being  prepared  who  will  become  faithful 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  Catholic  fold.  In  the  towns, 
the  Church  will  subsist  for  years  to  come,  no  doubt.  The 
position  of  the  priest  in  rich  parishes  has  positively  im- 
proved under  Separation,  since  generosity  has  been  stimu- 
lated, and  the  stipend  from  contributions  is  larger  than 
that  received  formerly  from  the  State.  But,  in  the  country 
at  large,  the  future  of  the  Church  is  very  black. 

The  protest  of  Catholic  fathers  and  parents  against  the 
teaching  in  the  Ecoles  Communales  (to  which  I  allude  in 


158  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

Chapter  VII)  that  found  expression  in  the  Chamber  in 
January,  1910,  receives  a  large  justification  in  fact.  It 
would  be  folly  to  pretend  that  the  youth  of  the  country 
is,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  as  moral  and  as  worthy 
as  former  generations.  I  use  the  word  "  moral "  in  its 
wide  sense  of  the  duty  of  one  citizen  to  another — to 
embrace  the  whole  conduct  of  man  toward  man.  Most 
careful  and  impartial  observers  declare  that  a  deteriora- 
tion in  the  national  character  has  manifested  itself  since 
the  institution  of  the  neutral  education  upon  which  Jules 
Ferry  laid  such  stress  when  he  formulated  the  compromise 
between  Clerical  and  Anti-Clerical  sentiment  in  1883.  It 
was  then  stipulated  that  the  teaching  in  the  schools 
should  respect  religion  by  avoiding  any  element  of 
offence.  It  was  never  contemplated  that  the  school 
teacher  would  abuse  his  position  to  fill  the  minds  of  his 
scholars  with  ideas  reflecting  on  the  authenticity  of  the 
Scriptures  and  by  casting  ridicule  upon  altruism  and 
idealism,  which  are  part  of  the  glorious  patrimony  of 
France.  There  has  been  a  distinct  decline  in  idealism, 
a  distinct  rise  in  materialism.  Such  a  phenomenon  is 
observable  elsewhere :  in  America  notably,  in  England  to 
a  large  extent ;  but  nowhere  has  it  made  such  ravages  as 
in  France.  Under  another  heading  I  have  attempted  to 
show  that  this  deterioration,  this  over-development  of  the 
material  side  of  life,  is  largely  responsible  for  the  dis- 
content that  is  eating  like  a  canker  into  the  heart  of  the 
working  man  of  France. 

Another  cause  why  democracy  is  discontented  is  the 
rapid — the  startlingly  rapid — evolution  of  its  leaders.  The 
Socialist,  come  to  office,  does  not  satisfy,  cannot  satisfy, 
the  political  aspirations  of  his  former  friends.  To  hold  a 
responsible  office  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  carry  out  the 
Socialistic  ideal  are  incompatible  things.     You  must  be 


A   POLITICAL   PICTURE  159 

false  to  one  standard  or  the  other.  The  French  working 
man,  seeing  his  former  demagogue  elevated  to  Ministerial 
place  and  power,  is  disappointed  because  the  principles, 
once  enunciated  by  his  leader,  are  not  put  into  practice. 
"  Where  is  this  millennium  you  promised  me  ? "  he  asks. 
To  promise  the  moon  is  one  way  to  obtain  election,  but  if 
the  moon  is  not  forthcoming,  one  must  be  prepared  for  a 
little  unpopularity. 

The  legislation  for  the  last  twenty  years  of  the  Third 
Republic  has  represented  the  slow  but  logical  application 
of  the  theories  of  the  Great  Revolution.  The  Anti- 
Clerical  policy,  inaugurated  by  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau, 
with  his  famous  Associations  Law,  requiring  all  religious 
Orders  in  the  country  to  register  themselves,  was  but  the 
continuation  in  saner,  more  normal,  conditions,  of  the  great 
struggle  of  1789.  It  was  rendered  inevitable — or,  at  least, 
ardent  Republicans  would  have  us  believe  so — by  the 
revelations  of  the  Dreyfus  case,  which  showed  the  Church 
ranged  with  the  enemies  of  the  regime.  Sooner  or  later, 
the  conflict  was  bound  to  end  in  disestablishment. 

It  would  be  unwise  to  reopen  the  sores  of  the  Affair. 
The  unfortunate  prisoner  of  Devil's  Island  has  been  re- 
habilitated, has  had  his  uniform  restored  to  him,  has 
re-entered  the  army  and  has  retired  therefrom.  To  insist 
on  the  details  of  this  momentous  case  would  be  a 
gratuitous  reminder  to  a  friendly  nation  of  a  gigantic 
judicial  blunder  compensated  for,  as  far  as  these  things 
can  be  compensated,  by  a  magnanimous  vote  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies.  However  that  may  be,  the  Dreyfus 
case  has  profoundly  affected  and  modified  French  politics 
during  the  past  ten  years.  M.  Briand's  Separation  Bill 
of  December,  1906,  was  the  last  word  in  this  controversy. 
It  is  not  for  me  to  defend  the  work  of  the  Republic 
against   the  Church,  but  it  is  at  least  curious  that  the 


i6o  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

measure  was  acceptable  to  the  Jews  and  the  Protestant 
Churches,  but  unacceptable  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  One 
can  only  assume  that,  in  his  zeal  for  a  purified  Catholic 
Church  in  France,  the  Pope  has  misapprehended  the  true 
circumstances  of  the  case.  It  can  never  be  asserted  that 
he  met  the  other  side  half-way. 

There  was  nothing  particularly  hurtful  in  the  Public 
Worship  Associations,  which  the  law  prescribed  in  place 
of  the  old  vestries.  The  Government  gave  way  on  the 
question  of  the  hierarchy  and  recognized  that  the  episcopal 
assent  was  necessary  before  an  association  could  establish 
its  "  bona  fides."  The  Vatican  has  taken  the  futile  course 
of  kicking  against  the  pricks.  The  Republic  must  win, 
unless  an  entire  change  takes  place  in  public  sentiment, 
causing  people  to  veer  towards  the  Church.  This  re- 
action might  result  from  a  renewal  of  Anti-Clerical  activity 
which  seemed  probable  after  the  resignation  of  M.  Briand, 
who  was  declared  to  be  too  favourable  to  the  Church. 

It  is  impossible  to  withhold  admiration  from  heroism, 
but  heroism,  when  useless,  becomes  tragic.  In  "Church 
and  Clericalism,"  I  deal  more  particularly  with  this  ques- 
tion. I  show  that  if  a  renaissance  is  to  be  noted  in  the 
towns,  it  is  otherwise  in  the  rural  districts.  Subscriptions 
flow  in  the  large  centres ;  a  certain  missionary  zeal  is 
shown  in  the  service  of  the  Church  ;  but  difficulties  of 
a  material  sort  are  cropping  up  daily  in  those  large 
scattered  parishes,  which  are  obliged  to  rely  on  the 
services  of  a  priest  shared  with  adjacent  localities. 

After  M.  Briand  put  his  hand  to  the  framing  of  the 
Separation  Law  between  Church  and  State,  he  exhibited, 
as  I  have  said,  moderation  in  his  dealings  with  the 
Catholics.  It  is  noteworthy  that,  in  his  famous  Perigueux 
oration,  delivered  shortly  after  assuming  office,  he  courted 
churchmen  so  openly  that  he  raised  the  protests  of  many 


A   POLITICAL  PICTURE  i6i 

of  his  followers,  who  felt  that  he  was  showing  weakness  in 
the  hour  of  conflict.  At  that  very  moment,  the  country- 
was  ringing  with  the  protests  of  the  Bishops  against  the 
character  of  the  teaching  in  the  elementary  schools.  M. 
Briand  attempted,  momentarily  at  least,  to  realize  that 
unrealizable  dream,  of  drawing  all  men  under  him.  M. 
Armand  Fallieres,  President  of  the  Republic,  displayed 
a  similar  ambition  in  an  audience  with  a  prominent 
American,  who  afterwards  repeated  the  conversation  to 
me.  "  I  wish  to  be  the  President  of  all  France,"  said 
M.  Fallieres,  "not  merely  of  one  section  of  it."  But 
though  divisions  are  slowly  healing,  it  is  not  to-day  or 
to-morrow  that  every  Frenchman  will  look  favourably, 
or  even  tolerably,  upon  the  present  Republic.  This 
divergency  of  opinion — a  divergency  that  is  seen  even  in 
schooldays — constitutes  the  difficulty  of  ruling  the  country 
and  satisfying  the  national  conscience. 

The  Republican  Governments  of  to-day  are  pressing 
forward  the  unification  of  the  primary  school  with  the 
object  ever  before  them  of  unifying  the  patriotism  of  the 
Frenchman.  You  do  not  want  two  conceptions  of  patriot- 
ism in  the  country.  You  do  not  want  children  to  be 
taught  in  one  set  of  schools  that  it  is  a  work  of  piety 
to  tear  down  the  Republic,  any  more  than  you  want  the 
children  in  another  set  of  schools  to  be  told  that  all  the 
old  ideals,  the  old  forms  of  government,  the  ideals,  even, 
of  right  and  wrong,  as  founded  on  religion,  are  old- 
fashioned  nonsense,  the  merest  trickery,  circulated  for 
interested  motives. 

A  sign  of  the  changing  spirit  in  France  is  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Income  Tax,  which  is  likely  to  be  voted  in  the 
course  of  191 1.  Its  principle  has  already  been  accepted 
by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  ;  it  waits  the  sanction  of 
the  Upper  House.  The  "contributions"  are  as  old  as 
II 


i62  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

the  present  fiscal  system.  They  are  taxes  on  businesses,  on 
doors  and  windows,  furniture,  etc.  In  their  place  comes 
this  one  direct  personal  tax  in  which  a  man  is  required  to 
sacrifice  a  definite  part  of  his  income.  It  is  somewhat 
curious  that,  whilst  the  tendency  in  France  is  towards 
direct  taxation,  such  as  the  Income  Tax  and  certain  local 
imposts,  which  will  take  the  place  of  the  "  octroi,"  in 
England  the  tendency  is  just  the  reverse. 

Each  successive  Government  casts  about  for  ready  means 
of  shifting  some  part  of  the  burden  of  taxation  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  general  consumer.  It  is  obvious  that, 
for  instance,  an  abstainer  from  alcoholic  drinks  and  a 
non-smoker  in  England  escapes  a  good  deal  of  taxation 
of  the  indirect  sort.  I  do  not  say  that  he  should  be 
penalized  for  his  self-sacrifice  or  for  his  want  of  appetite, 
but  an  indirect  tax  that  caught  the  two  sections  of  the 
community,  the  abstainer  and  the  moderate  drinker, 
would  obviously  represent  a  fairer  field  of  contribution. 

Social  reform  is  an  expensive  luxury,  and  the  reason 
why  French  indebtedness  is  mounting  by  leaps  and 
bounds  arises  from  this  fact  that  the  roseate  inventions  of 
deputies  to  please  advanced  electorates  have  to  be  paid 
for  in  hard  cash.  Life  has  become  an  expensive  matter 
in  France — at  any  rate  in  the  large  towns.  Gone  are  the 
days  when  it  was  possible  to  live  comfortably  with  a 
family  on  ;^300  a  year  in  any  quarter  of  the  French 
metropolis.  The  rise  in  price  of  commodities  has  been 
most  marked  in  the  past  twenty  years,  and  has  resulted 
in  all  sorts  of  money-saving  devices.  That  wonderful 
institution,  the  salamander,  or  slow-combustion  stove, 
which  heats  most  French  houses  of  the  lower-middle 
classes,  is  the  direct  result  of  the  vast  war  indemnity 
which  followed  the  disastrous  issue  of  the  campaign  of 
'70-71.     The  people  were  taxed  to  their  utmost  capacity, 


A   POLITICAL   PICTURE  163 

and,  in  order  to  make  ends  meet,  they  resorted  to  the 
most  ingenious  forms  of  economy,  both  in  the  lighting  and 
heating  of  their  homes. 

The  thrift  and  frugality  of  the  French  are  their  leading 
characteristics.  The  Act  for  securing  pensions  to  work- 
men and  peasants,  which  was  one  of  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  the  first  Briand  Administration,  is  hardly 
necessary  in  a  country  where  every  workman,  and,  more 
particularly,  every  peasant,  saves  by  instinct  a  portion  of 
his  income.  It  is  admitted  that,  in  liquid  capital,  France 
is  the  richest  country  in  the  world.  The  savings  per  head 
of  the  people  exceed  those  of  other  peoples.  It  is  no 
uncommon  thing  for  persons  in  quite  humble  circum- 
stances, such  as  domestic  servants,  to  have  at  least 
25,000  francs  (;^  1,000)  in  the  bank.  You  cannot  go  into 
a  post  office  in  any  part  of  France  without  seeing 
a  Government  Savings  Bank  book  in  the  hands  of  some 
young  member  of  the  population.  Frugality  is  ingrained. 
It  arises  partially  from  the  fact  that  the  French  are  at 
heart  realist,  logical,  and  intensely  practical.  They  are, 
in  many  respects,  much  less  sentimental  than  the  English. 
That  cold  system  of  calculation,  which  enters  into  their 
marriage  affairs,  affects  their  daily  habits.  That  the  popu- 
lation in  France  makes  no  progress  in  numbers  is  directly 
due  to  that  "  esprit  d'epargne,"  or  saving  habit,  which  pre- 
vents heads  of  households  from  undertaking  more  re- 
sponsibilities than  they  can  easily  meet.  A  Frenchman 
is  well  aware  that,  in  dividing  up  his  fortune  into,  say, 
half  a  dozen  portions,  amongst  as  many  children,  he 
renders  each — if  the  property,  to  begin  with,  is  relatively 
small — only  semi-independent  and  subject  to  the  fluctua- 
tions of  the  labour  market.  It  is  the  ambition  of  every 
French  parent  to  provide  a  fortune  for  his  offspring  equal 
to  his  own ;  hence,  if  he  has  five  children,  he  has  to  provide 


i64  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

five  fortunes.  Obviously  it  is  easier  for  him,  in  these  days 
of  competition  and  commercial  stress,  to  confine  his  ener- 
gies to  safeguarding  his  resources,  so  that,  after  satisfying 
present  needs  and  the  education  and  professional  prepara- 
tion of  his  son,  his  estate  shall  pass  to  his  heir  intact. 

If  the  peasantry  is  not  exempt  from  avarice,  the  rich 
classes  show  a  great  shyness  of  taxation.  The  effect  of 
the  Socialistic  propaganda  in  Parliament  is  to  frighten 
the  goose  which  lays  the  golden  eggs.  Though  it  is 
difficult  to  substantiate  figures,  I  have  had  it  confirmed 
that  much  capital  has  fled  from  France  on  the  mere 
threat  of  the  Income  Tax.  Owners  of  property  object  to 
the  tax  for  a  twofold  reason.  The  first  is  that  it  is 
inquisitorial,  prying  into  a  man's  affairs,  with  the  possible 
result  of  damaging  his  credit  by  giving  valuable  informa- 
tion to  a  trade  competitor — secrets  are  kept  loosely  in 
France — and  secondly,  because  of  the  opportunity  that 
it  offers  to  Socialistic  expropriation.  It  is  easy  for  a 
legislature  composed  of  deputies  wishing  to  flatter  the 
working  classes  to  tax  property  practically  out  of  exist- 
ence. The  Income  Tax  might  become  a  dreadful  weapon 
in  the  hands  of  Socialists.  Already,  as  I  have  said,  the 
mere  threat  of  it  has  been  sufficient  to  stimulate  invest- 
ment abroad.  Millions  of  French  francs  have  fled  over 
the  border  to  Russian,  to  German,  Belgian,  and  Swiss 
undertakings.  Some  portion  of  the  golden  current  has 
even  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  United  States,  of  which 
country,  up  to  this  moment,  the  French  have  fought  some- 
what shy.  It  is  the  undisguised  object  of  the  extremer 
men  in  the  Socialist  party  to  relieve  the  working  classes 
altogether  of  fiscal  burdens,  so  that  the  cost  of  the  whole 
administration  of  the  country  would  fall  upon  a  limited 
class  of  rich  men.  The  new  Bill  is  based  upon  the 
propositions  of  M.  Caillaux,  Minister  of  Finance  in  the 


A  POLITICAL  PICTURE  165 

Clemenceau  Cabinet.  Though  it  will  undergo,  doubtless, 
considerable  change  before  it  emerges  from  the  Senate, 
its  essential  principle  is  the  surtax,  which  places  a  heavy 
burden  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  wealthy.  But  this  is  a 
quite  limited  section  of  the  country.  The  proportion  of 
persons  who  make,  for  instance,  ;£"4,ooo  a  year  in  France  is 
extremely  small  compared  with  England,  and,  of  course, 
smaller  still  as  compared  with  the  United  States — the 
country  of  big  incomes ;  so  that  merely  a  handful  of  the 
people — it  is  calculated  not  more  than  11,000 — would  pay 
the  greater  part  of  this  Income  Tax,  that  is  to  say,  the  full 
tax  under  the  various  schedules  and  an  additional  tax.  It 
is  small  wonder  that  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the 
country  became  frightened  at  these  revolutionary  pro- 
posals, and  that  M.  Briand,  when  forming  his  Ministry, 
took  care  to  conciliate  business  interests  by  leaving  out 
M.  Caillaux  from  his  combination. 

The  tendencies  of  modern  France,  therefore,  are  ten- 
dencies of  some  danger.  The  number  of  strikes  under 
the  Clemenceau  Administration  was  notably  large,  ex- 
hibiting an  alarming  amount  of  unrest  amongst  the 
workers  of  the  country.  In  the  autumn  of  1910,  M. 
Briand  was  confronted  with  the  difficulty  of  a  general 
railway  strike,  which  was  only  conjured  by  calling  up  the 
"cheminots"  as  military  reserves.  Then,  again,  there 
have  been  instances  of  insubordination  in  the  public 
defence  forces,  particularly  in  the  Navy,  though  it  is  quite 
possible  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  these  outbreaks. 
They  sprang  exclusively  from  the  bad  example  of  the 
arsenal  hands,  who,  as  I  state  in  Chapter  VI,  were  em- 
powered to  form  a  trade  union,  and  were  petted  to  an 
incredible  extent  by  that  eccentric  administrator,  M. 
Camille  Pelletan,  when  Minister  of  the  Marine.  The  great 
strike  in  the  North  of  France  after  the  Courrieres  colliery 


1 66  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

disaster  of  1906,  and  the  curious  revolt  of  the  wine-grow- 
ing departments  of  the  South  in  1908,  are  symptoms  which 
the  observer  cannot  disregard.  Again,  the  mischievous 
activity  of  the  Anarchists  in  Paris,  affecting  the  provincial 
centres  as  well,  in  the  weeks  preceding  May  Day,  is  a 
proof  that  the  anti-governmental  and  disorderly  forces  in 
the  country  quickly  get  out  of  hand.  A  large  part  of  this 
unrest  may  be  due  to  the  disappointment  of  the  masses 
at  the  non-realization  of  longed-for  reforms ;  but  there 
are  other  causes  at  work. 

Anarchy,  unrest,  and  insubordination  flourish.  Why? 
It  would  be  foolish  to  deny  the  existence  of  poverty  in 
France  ;  yet  one  does  not  see  the  distressful  sights  in 
Paris,  Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  or  any  of  the  large  towns 
in  France  that  are  so  frequent  in  London  and  provincial 
England.  There  are  no  "  thirteen  millions  on  the  verge 
of  starvation,"  as  Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman  is  re- 
ported to  have  said  of  England.  Practically  there  are 
no  unemployed.  There  was  a  curious  instance  of  that 
during  the  winter  of  1908-9.  After  a  heavy  snow- 
storm it  was  practically  impossible  to  obtain  labour 
to  clear  the  streets.  A  thousand  brooms  could  not 
be  requisitioned  in  an  hour  or  two,  as  was  certainly 
the  case  in  London,  where  the  Municipalities  had  no 
lack  of  unemployed  to  choose  from.  Nearly  every 
man  in  this  favoured  country  has  work  to  do  if  he 
will  do  it,  and  savings  upon  which  he  can  draw  in  time  of 
need.  The  fact,  also,  that  his  wife  or  female  companion 
works  is  a  source  of  strength.  In  French  towns  you  do 
not  see  numbers  of  women  spending  their  husband's  earn- 
ings uselessly  or  on  drink ;  they  work  and  bring  their 
earnings  to  the  common  fund.  Hence,  though  the  general 
standard  of  wages  is  lower  than  in  England,  the  net  in- 
come of  the  households  is  higher,  because  both  husband 


A   POLITICAL   PICTURE  167 

and  wife  contribute.  One  of  the  advantages  of  a  pro- 
tected agricultural  industry  is  that  when  labour  fails  in 
the  town  it  can  be  employed  in  the  country.  This 
balance  between  the  country  and  the  town  establishes  the 
economical  equilibrium  of  France. 

The  prosperity  of  the  working  classes  stands  revealed. 
This  being  so,  why  is  there  this  endemic  agitation,  which 
causes  mobilizations  of  Army  Corps  and  brigades  of  police  ? 
It  would  be  absurd  to  say  that  the  wage-earners  have  no 
grievances.  Every  wage-earner  has  a  grievance,  but  I 
shall  not  be  beside  the  mark  if  I  say  that  a  large  part  of 
the  unrest  which  makes  itself  so  visible  in  the  newspapers 
is  really  a  case  of  disturbed  statics.  It  is  the  cork  bob- 
bing up  in  the  bottle.  The  proletariat  is  well  off;  it  is  in 
a  state  of  ebullition  merely  because  it  is  well  off.  In  some 
senses,  it  is  a  symptom  of  health.  In  any  case,  this  con- 
stant agitation,  this  constant  threatening  of  a  general 
strike,  should  not  be  taken  too  seriously  as  indicating  real 
misery.  Much  worse  is  it  when  the  lower  classes  are  so 
broken-spirited  that  a  column  of  them  marching,  osten- 
sibly to  find  work,  can  be  led  by  a  single  policeman. 
Such  sights  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  suburbs  of  London 
in  times  of  acute  distress.  Remember,  also,  the  Latin  blood. 
The  Gallic  temperament,  plus  a  real  or  an  imaginary  griev- 
ance, is  certain  to  boil  over  and  require  force  to  repress  it. 

The  tendencies  of  twentieth-century  France  may  not  be 
unwholesome  tendencies  in  the  main,  but  they  present  a 
point  of  danger.  The  Anarchists  and  the  Revolution- 
aries may  gain  too  great  a  hold  in  working  upon  the 
susceptible  elements  of  the  population,  and  there  may,  in 
consequence,  be  great  harm  done  to  the  solid  interests  of 
the  country.  But  I  rely  on  the  good  sense  of  the  people 
and  the  strength  of  the  Government  to  see  that  splendid 
notions  of  liberty  do  not  degenerate  into  chaos  and  licence. 


CHAPTER  XI 
FRANCE   AND   HER   FOREIGN    RELATIONS 

THE  war  of  1870-71  left  France  exhausted  and 
without  friends.  The  Republic  was  confronted 
with  the  tremendous  task  of  reconstituting  her 
military  forces  and  finding  allies  in  Europe.  To  achieve 
the  former,  she  had  to  reconcile  universal  conscription 
with  universal  suffrage ;  to  achieve  the  latter  to  marry  a 
modern  democracy  to  a  medieval  autocracy.  Both 
courses  had  their  special  dangers.  High  social  develop- 
ment at  home  is  often  incompatible  with  a  strong  policy 
abroad,  just  as  military  efficiency  is  affected  by  Socialism 
and  anti-militarism.  As  to  the  "  mariage  de  raison  "  with 
Russia,  it  raised  in  the  breasts  of  advanced  democrats 
just  the  sentimental  objections  that  might  be  expected 
from  sons  of  the  Revolution  and  inheritors  of  the  Rights 
of  Man.  Moreover,  certain  difficulties  of  a  social  character 
arise  in  establishing  close  and  continuous  diplomatic 
relations  between  a  republic  and  an  aristocratic  govern- 
ment. The  fact  remains  that,  notwithstanding  weak- 
nesses displayed,  France  has  escaped  any  serious  military 
adventure  since  the  disastrous  years  of  the  great  war.  It 
is  quite  possible  that  even  the  risks  she  has  admittedly 
run  during  that  period  have  been  exaggerated.  M.  de 
Blowitz'  famous  correspondence  in  "The  Times,"  con- 
cerning the  intentions  of  Germany  to  attack  France  in 
1875,  on   the   cynical   pretext    that    she    had    not   been 

168 


FRANCE   AND   HER   FOREIGN   RELATIONS     169 

sufficiently  crushed  in  the  conflict  four  years  earlier,  is  some- 
what discredited  in  recent  memoirs.  The  Bismarckian  ex- 
pression "  to  bleed  France  white  "  had,  perhaps,  a  good  deal 
of  bluff  in  it.  But  it  is  certain  that  the  Tsar,  Alexander  1 1, 
shared  the  apprehensions  of  France  and  intervened  in  her 
interests  and  those  of  the  European  equilibrium. 

Again,  in  March,  1905,  thirty  years  later,  France  was  in 
the  throes  of  a  war-scare,  as  the  result  of  which  M. 
Delcasse  was  dismissed  from  the  Quai  d'Orsay  by  M. 
Rouvier,  at  that  time  President  du  Conseil.  M.  Delcasse's 
memorable  speech  in  the  Chamber  three  years  later,  in 
defence  of  his  policy,  declared  :  "  We  were  threatened  with 
war,  but  no  war  came,  because  you  cannot  with  impunity 
declare  war  on  a  great  country  like  France,  which  has 
strengthened  its  position  with  alliances  and  agreements." 

It  is  a  matter  for  argument  whether  the  probabilities  of 
war  between  great  Powers  do  not  diminish  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  growing  complexity  of  international 
exchanges  and  the  sensitiveness  of  the  money  centres  of 
the  world.  As  the  author  of  "  The  Great  Illusion  "  (whom 
I  quote  elsewhere  in  this  book)  points  out,  there  can  be 
no  seizure  of  an  enemy's  property  without  the  operation 
reacting  unfavourably  upon  the  credit  of  the  aggressor. 

Fortified  by  her  alliances  and  friendships,  France  is 
practically  secure  from  danger.  This  is  the  theory  upon 
which  M.  Delcasse  conducted  his  Foreign  Ministry.  It 
was,  also,  the  opinion  of  Gambetta,  who  declared  that 
France  was  unattackable  if  supported  by  Russia  and 
England.  This  was  before  the  days  either  of  the  Grand 
Alliance  or  the  Entente  Cordiale.  M.  Delcasse's  efforts 
were  bent  towards  strengthening  the  two  props  of  French 
policy,  and  yet,  at  one  time — even  in  his  own  tenure  of 
office — there  seemed  nothing  more  unlikely  than  an  Anglo- 
French  rapprochement. 


ijo  FRANCE  AND  THE   FRENCH 

If  the  Russian  Alliance  is  a  marriage  of  interest,  and 
there  is  plenty  of  reason  for  so  regarding  it,  the  Entente 
Cordiale  may  be  considered  the  romance  of  Foreign 
Politics.  And  the  Prince  Charming  who  wooed  and  won 
the  lady  was  Edward  VII.  France  and  Russia  were 
bound  to  come  together  by  the  force  of  circumstances. 
Both  had  need  of  the  other.  If  the  union  has  been  a 
disillusionment  for  the  one,  the  other,  at  least,  has  found 
the  solid  satisfaction  of  a  large  "  dot."  It  is  computed 
that  a  sixth  of  the  national  fortune  of  France — 
i,5CX),ooo,cxx)  sterling — has,  in  some  shape  or  form,  found 
its  way  into  Russian  coffers,  as  the  result  of  the  Alliance 
which  was  consecrated  by  the  document  of  August  22, 
1 89 1.  The  two  nations  were  undoubtedly  drawn  together 
by  the  fact  that  Germany  had  seen  fit  to  transform  her 
alliance  with  Austria  into  the  Triple  Alliance,  a  few  years 
earlier.  Russia  felt  that  this  triangular  arrangement  was 
as  much  directed  against  her  as  against  France.  A  common 
danger  makes  common  friends,  especially  after  Russia 
had  performed  a  signal  service  to  the  future  ally  in  1875. 

Pro-Russian  policy  in  France  took  a  definite  step  for- 
ward when  the  Quai  d'Orsay  advised  the  Bulgarians,  who 
had  applied  for  support  against  Russia,  to  make  their  peace 
with  St.  Petersburg.  Then  a  Russian  loan,  underwritten 
by  French  bankers,  appeared  on  the  Paris  market,  and  was 
eagerly  subscribed.  Before  that  time,  Russia  found  her 
financial  support  in  Berlin  and  Holland.  Since  this  first 
tangible  proof  of  friendship,  the  public  indebtedness  of  the 
Bear  to  his  obliging  neighbour  has  reached  the  sum  of 
seventeen  and  a  half  milliards  of  francs.  This  is  only  part, 
of  course,  of  the  heavy  premium  paid  by  France  for  insur- 
ance against  invasion.  If,  from  time  to  time — particularly 
during  the  Russo-Japanese  war,  and  before  England  came 
to  an  arrangement  with  her  ancient  rival  in  Persia  and 


FRANCE  AND  HER   FOREIGN   RELATIONS     171 

India — there  was  grave  anxiety  as  to  the  security  of 
capital  sunk"  in  Russian  Government  bonds,  oil  fields,  pine 
forests,  cotton  factories,  Siberian  mines,  and  wheat  fields, 
it  was  natural  enough.  But  fears  as  to  the  financial  situa- 
tion never  caused  a  panic,  principally  because  of  the  clever 
dispositions  of  the  Government  acting  in  accord  with  finan- 
cial corporations.  Speculation  was  stopped  on  the  Bourse 
by  decreeing  that  no  stock  was  to  be  bought  for  which  the 
whole  amount  had  not  been  paid,  nor  were  orders  to  sell 
to  be  received  without  the  vendor  being  in  possession  of 
the  scrip.  In  this  way  market  fluctuations  were  avoided, 
and,  by  judicious  purchases  on  behalf  of  the  Government, 
the  price  remained  at  a  reassuring  figure.  Moreover, 
authorized  opinion  declared  itself  optimist,  and  said  that 
a  nation  having  the  vast  resources  of  Russia  and  a  public 
debt  not  amounting  to  more  than  £8  per  head  of  the 
population  was  quite  sound.  Despite  appearances  of  cor- 
ruption and  maladministration,  there  was  the  unanswerable 
argument  that  Russia  has  always  paid  her  coupons,  even 
during  the  Crimean  War. 

The  signing  of  the  offensive  and  defensive  treaty  by 
M.  Ribot,  French  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  the 
Baron  de  Mohrenheim,  Russian  Ambassador  to  Paris,  was 
accompanied  by  a  great  interchange  of  courtesies.  Ad- 
miral Avellan's  squadron  came  to  Toulon,  and  his  sailors 
were  received  with  extraordinary  enthusiasm  in  the  streets 
of  Paris.  These  scenes  were  repeated  on  a  grander  scale 
when  the  Tsar  and  Tsarina  visited  France.  If,  on  the 
second  visit,  there  seemed  to  be  some  cooling  of  enthu- 
siasm, it  was  due  to  the  impossibility  of  maintaining 
political  passion  at  fever  heat.  When  M.  Loubet,  in  imita- 
tion of  M.  Felix  Faure,  went  to  Russia,  there  was  still  a 
semblance  of  warmth  in  the  greetings,  but  President 
Fallieres'  rendezvous  with  Nicholas   II  at  Reval,  in  the 


172  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

summer  of  1908,  was  regarded  as  a  visit  of  ceremony,  and 
little  more. 

"  Too  many  flowers  "  have  killed  popular  sentiment  for 
the  alliance  with  Russia  just  as,  according  to  some,  they 
threaten  to  stifle  the  Entente  with  England.  But  there  are 
more  solid  reasons  for  reservation  in  the  case  of  Russia. 
First  of  all,  there  is  the  enormous  money  stake  which, 
one  is  entitled  to  believe,  cannot  be  increased — this  prob- 
ably explains  Russian  anxiety  to  obtain  entrance  to  the 
English  market — and,  secondly,  the  astounding  revelations 
of  Russian  weakness  in  the  war. 

France  has  every  right  to  remember  the  deplorable 
failure  of  the  ally  in  the  Far  East.  She  saw,  with  growing 
disquiet,  the  disappearance  of  blood  and  treasure — her  own 
treasure — in  the  ill-starred  Manchurian  adventure.  The 
guarantee  against  German  invasion  crumpled  up — men, 
money,  and  ships  hopelessly  engulfed — in  that  terrible 
conflict  with  the  Japanese.  M.  Delcasse  s  optimism  had 
taken  him  too  far ;  he  refused  to  believe  in  the  war  until 
Japan  had  launched  her  first "  coup,"  and  he  carried  most  of 
the  nation  with  him.  The  shock  of  revelation  was  the  greater. 

But  a  sharper  comment  was  given  to  events  by  the 
conduct  of  Germany.  Russian  arms  had  met  with  a  severe 
reverse  at  Liao  Yang,  and  again  at  Mukden.  In  that 
very  month  of  March,  1905,  the  German  Emperor  dis- 
embarked at  Tangiers.  This  action  imposed  a  check  upon 
the  mission  of  M.  Saint-Rene  Taillandier  to  the  Sultan  of 
Morocco  and  to  the  policy  of  M.  Delcasse. 

To  have  an  exact  comprehension  of  the  situation,  one 
must  go  back  to  earlier  events.  The  new  Entente  Cordiale 
with  England  was  sealed  on  April  8,  1904,  by  a  treaty, 
which  recognized,  amongst  other  things,  the  special  privi- 
leged position  of  France  in  Morocco.  As  Powers  directly 
interested,   Italy,  and,  after   lengthy  pourparlers,   Spain, 


FRANCE   AND   HER   FOREIGN   RELATIONS      173 

signified  their  assent  to  the  principle  of  French  preponder- 
ance in  Morocco.  On  the  other  hand,  Germany,  which 
had  made  no  move  of  protest  when  the  treaty  was  actually 
signed — expressing,  indeed,  indifference  on  the  ground 
that  German  interests  were  not  affected — now  assumed  an 
attitude  of  frank  hostility.  To  testify  to  her  grievances, 
she  called  a  conference  of  the  Powers. 

Recognizing  in  this  action  German  bluster,  M.  Delcasse 
was  inclined  to  disregard  the  invitation  to  the  waltz,  where- 
upon the  Wilhelmstrasse  developed  its  plan.  A  special 
emissary.  Prince  Henckel  von  Donnersmarck,  was  dis- 
patched to  Paris.  He  let  it  be  known  that  Germany  had 
a  serious  complaint  against  the  Republic.  He  alleged 
that  France  had  not  officially  communicated  to  his  Govern- 
ment the  terms  of  the  Anglo-French  compact ;  that  she 
was  assuming  in  her  conversations  with  the  Sultan  the 
role  of  mandatory  of  Europe,  which  had  not  been  confided 
to  her,  and  that  German  interests  in  Morocco  were  being 
injured.  This  was  followed  by  the  convocation  of  the 
Powers  to  the  Conference  of  Algeciras. 

In  his  alarm  at  this  language,  M.  Rouvier,  then  Premier 
of  France — with  the  timidity  of  a  financier  in  face  of  inter- 
national complications — resolved  to  sacrifice  M.  Delcass6, 
whose  policy  was  incriminated.  The  famous  Foreign 
Minister,  who  had  occupied  the  Quai  d'Orsay  since  1898, 
was  forced  to  resign  and  Germany  scored  her  first  diplo- 
matic triumph  in  the  teeth  of  the  Anglo-French  accord. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  England  offered  her  aid 
to  France,  but  that  the  latter  felt  incapable  of  resistance. 
An  article  in  one  of  the  Boulevard  organs  declared  that 
England  had  expressed  her  willingness  to  throw  an  army 
of  20,000  men  into  Schleswig-Holstein.  Supposing  such 
an  offer  were  possible,  France  was  scarcely  in  a  position 
to  avail  herself  of  it.     A  hasty  inspection  of  the  forts  on 


174  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

the  Eastern  frontier  showed  weakness  in  guns  and  ammuni- 
tion. General  Andre's  rule  in  the  army  with  its  system  of 
spying  and  informing  had  been  disastrous  to  "esprit  de 
corps."  In  the  Navy  matters  were  worse.  The  curious 
administration  of  M.  Camille  Pelletan,  the  Socialist  Minister 
of  Marine,  had  disorganized  the  service  afloat.  The  fleets 
of  France  were  obviously  unprepared  for  war.  In  her 
extremity,  France  yielded  and  M.  Rouvier,  in  Cabinet 
council,  received  the  resignation  of  his  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs.  This  deplorable  failure  in  front  of  the  enemy,  as 
an  historian  of  the  time  says,  was  not  even  covered  up  by 
the  resignation, "  en  bloc,"  of  the  Cabinet.  It  was  the  public 
consciousness  of  unpreparedness  that  brought  about  the 
downfall  of  M.  Delcasse,  a  consciousness  which,  if  he  shared, 
he  did  not  allow  to  affect  his  policy.  It  is  evident  that  he 
believed  that  Germany  had  no  real  intention  of  attacking 
France.     The  result  seems  to  prove  him  right. 

It  was  a  time  of  alarm  and  humiliation,  only  comparable 
with  the  events  that  preceded  and  followed  Fashoda.  In 
private  as  well  as  in  his  great  public  vindication,  quoted 
in  an  earlier  chapter,  M.  Delcasse  expressed  his  belief  in 
the  ability  of  France  to  disregard  the  threats  of  Germany  : 
all  that  was  necessary  was  a  firm  front.  But  this  con- 
fidence was  not  shared  by  other  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and,  whilst  men  and  stores  were  being  hurried 
eastward,  the  pilot  in  foreign  waters  was  ignominiously 
dropped. 

Before  the  Conference  of  Algeciras  had  assembled,  the 
German  Emperor  had  paid  a  visit  to  the  Sultan  of  Morocco 
at  Tangiers  and  declared  that  his  policy  was  directed 
towards  maintaining  the  independence  and  integrity  of 
the  country. 

Notwithstanding  these  inauspicious  beginnings,  the 
Conference  at  Algeciras  was  less  unfavourable  to  France 


FRANCE  AND   HER  FOREIGN   RELATIONS     175 

than  might  have  been  expected.  It  was  apparent,  after  a 
few  sittings,  that  Europe  was  not  with  Germany  in  her 
pretensions  to  interfere  with  the  w^ork  of  "  peaceful  pene- 
tration "  by  the  French  in  Morocco.  England  was  able  to 
render  effective  support  for  the  first  time  since  the  signature 
of  the  Anglo-French  treaty  two  years  before. 

The  genesis  and  development  of  the  Entente  Cordiale 
form  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  Anglo-French 
relations.  Friendship  with  England  is  now  one  of  the 
essential  pivots  of  French  foreign  policy,  which  the  most 
Chauvinist  Ministry  would  not  dare  to  disturb.  M.  Paul 
Deschanel,  at  one  time  President  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  very  properly  says  that  Anglo-French  hostility, 
after  the  war  of  1 870-1,  was  "un  des  plus  grands  contre-sens 
de  I'histoire."  Bismarck  contrived  to  keep  France  and 
England  divided  over  the  question  of  Egypt.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1898,  Marchand  and  his  little  company  of  Sudanese 
were  forced  to  evacuate  Fashoda.  Fifteen  years  before, 
the  French  had  allowed  the  English  to  establish  themselves 
in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Though  this  belated  attempt  to 
reopen  the  Egyptian  question  was,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
foredoomed  to  failure,  the  actual  incident  stirred  the  nation 
to  its  depths  and  embittered  feelings. 

The  unmeasured  criticism  of  the  French  people  and  of 
their  jurisprudence,  which  appeared  in  the  English  Press  at 
the  time  of  the  Dreyfus  case,  served  to  keep  open  the  sore. 
The  effect  of  this  hostility  towards  England  was  to 
encourage  an  Entente  with  Germany.  That  eminent  man 
of  letters,  M.  Jules  Lemaitre,  was  one  who  preached  recon- 
ciliation with  the  conquerors  of  thirty  years  before.  Nor, 
of  course,  did  the  tone  adopted  by  the  Boulevard  Press 
during  the  Boer  War  and  the  ferocious  joy  with  which  it 
hailed  British  defeats  at  the  hands  of  the  Transvaal 
farmers  tend  to  promote  political  agreements.    The  change 


176  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

in  sentiment  effected  by  the  visit  of  King  Edward  to  Paris, 
in  1903,  was  almost  miraculous.  The  French  admired 
the  courage  and  courtesy  which  inspired  this  step,  made 
rather  against  the  advice  of  diplomacy.  Most  official 
personages  considered  that  the  Royal  overture  to  the  new 
concert  had  come  too  soon.  But  the  event  showed  them 
to  be  wrong. 

Like  Caesar  on  an  historic  occasion,  Edward  VII  came 
and  saw  and  conquered.  The  ill  humour  of  the  Parisians 
could  not  resist  the  bonhomie  and  geniality  of  him  who,  as 
Prince  of  Wales,  had  found  the  road  to  their  hearbs^  The 
plot  of  a  Nationalist  demonstration  against  King  Edward, 
if  it  ever  amounted  to  a  plot,  came  to  naught.  To  his 
honour,  Paul  Deroulede,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Nationalist 
party  (then  nearing  the  conclusion  of  his  exile  at  San 
Sebastian  for  his  attempted  "  coup  d'Etat "  at  the  funeral 
of  F^lix  Faure)  discountenanced  the  unmannerly  projects 
of  a  part  of  his  followers.  There  was  no  demonstration. 
If  the  cheers  reported  in  some  of  the  English  papers  only 
existed  in  the  amiable  imagination  of  correspondents,  at 
least  the  demeanour  of  the  crowd  was  irreproachable.  The 
visit  was  one  of  the  boldest  as  well  as  one  of  the  happiest 
strokes  of  policy  ever  invented  by  the  sovereign  of  a  great 
people,  and  its  effect  was  almost  instantaneous. 

It  was  followed  by  a  number  of  important  events  con- 
solidating what  was  soon  to  prove  a  union  of  hearts  as  well 
as  a  union  of  policies.  M.  Loubet,  President  of  the  Re- 
public, paid  a  return  visit  to  London,  where  his  reception 
was  of  the  most  cordial  character ;  then  came  the  visit  of 
French  deputies  to  London,  followed,  in  the  same  year 
(1903),  by  the  first  of  the  diplomatic  instruments:  a  treaty 
of  arbitration  between  the  two  countries.  English  M.P.'s 
crossed  to  Paris  in  November  of  that  year,  and  in  the 
following  spring  came  the  corner-stone  of  the  Entente, 


FRANCE  AND   HER   FOREIGN   RELATIONS     177 

the  treaty  regulating  colonial  differences  and  establishing 
the  principle  of  preponderating  influences  in  Egypt  and 
Morocco.  After  this  treaty,  came  the  visit  of  the  French 
fleet  to  Portsmouth,  the  sojourn  of  the  Conseil  Municipal 
of  Paris  in  London,  the  reception  of  the  L.C.C.  in  Paris 
and  the  official  entertainment  of  M.  Fallieres  by  the  British 
nation. 

Then  out  of  the  blue  fell  the  bolt  from  Germany.  It 
was  evident,  protestations  of  indifference  to  the  contrary, 
that  the  neighbour  across  the  Vosges  was  profoundly 
piqued  at  the  rapprochement  between  France  and  England. 
Her  brusque  change  of  front  was  the  more  remarkable 
because  she  had  lavished  attentions  upon  France.  Poli- 
ticians of  a  more  or  less  representative  sort  were  singled 
out  by  the  Kaiser  for  the  bestowal  of  marks  of  sympathy. 

As  to  Anglo-German  relations,  they  appeared,  to  the 
French  eye,  to  be  excellent  down  to  1901.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  outburst  occasioned  by  the  Kruger  telegram,  there 
were  diplomatic  negotiations  between  the  two  peoples 
ending  in  conventions  relating  to  Samoa  and  China,  and, 
a  few  months  later  (in  1901),  the  British  squadron  joined 
itself  with  Germany  and  Italy  in  a  naval  demonstration  in 
Venezuelan  waters.  It  is  true  that  this  action  was  scarcely 
approved  by  the  British  people,  but  the  popular  attitude 
escaped  notice  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel,  where 
only  the  fact  was  seen  of  an  apparent  identity  of  policy. 
What,  then,  was  at  the  bottom  of  this  change  of  front  in 
England  ?  French  students  of  foreign  politics  will  tell 
you  that  the  underlying  cause  was  the  discovery  by 
England  of  a  "  double  jeu  "  on  the  part  of  Germany.  It 
was  the  duplicity  of  the  Wilhelmstrasse  that  changed  the 
current  of  British  diplomacy. 

One  of  the  pious  beliefs  of  Professors  at  the  School  of 
Political  Science  and  of  the  dabblers  in  diplomacy  on  the 
12 


178  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

Boulevards  is  the  inevitableness  of  war  between  England 
and  Germany.  The  latter's  challenge  of  British  naval 
supremacy,  as  well  as  her  invasion  of  the  markets  of  the 
world  to  the  detriment  of  British  commerce,  is  held  to 
be  sufficient  ground  for  the  eventual  collision.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  England  has  sought  the  friendship  of 
France  :  she  has  need  of  the  neighbour's  big  battalions. 
The  Entente  Cordiale  has  for  parents  the  common  danger 
of  German  aggression  and  the  common  interest  in  main- 
taining the  "  status  quo."  ilt^ji*\^^ 

As  to  the  French  attitude  towards  Gernrany,  si^ns  are 
not  wanting  that  the  Kaiser's  assiduous  if  somewhat  brutal 
courtship  of  Marianne  has  not  been  without  its  effect. 
There  is  a  large  party  in  the  State,  principally  connected 
with  business  and  commercial  interests,  which  affects  to 
believe,  in  the  words  of  Lord  Salisbury,  that  the  country 
has  "  put  its  money  on  the  wrong  horse."  "  We  should 
have  approached  Germany,"  they  say.  "  Such  a  policy 
would  have  had  the  effect  of  reducing  our  armaments, 
which  are  too  heavy  for  mortal  shoulders  to  bear."  Obvi- 
ously, this  "  etat  d'ame  "  is  far  from  "  la  Revanchet"  Yet 
the  French,  as  a  nation,  are  a  proud  people^  and  forty 
years  of  peace  have  not  sufficed  to  efface  the  memories  of 
the  war  from  the  older  generation.  The  l«st  Provinces 
will  have  to  be  restored  or,  at  least,  neutralized,  before 
there  can  be  any  real  understanding  between  the  tw^ 
peoples. 

However  that  may  be,  England  and,  in  spite  of  new 
turns  in  policy  of  the  Wilhelmstrasse,  France  are  bound 
in  opposition  to  German  dominance.  British  policy  has 
always  been  directed  against  a  European  hegemony.  It 
was  this  resistance  to  the  dominance  of  one  State  over 
another  that  led  to  British  victories  in  the  past  over  the 
fleets  of  Holland  and  Spain.     Napoleon  felt  the  weight  of 


FRANCE   AND   HER   FOREIGN    RELATIONS     179 

the  same  calm,  persistent  policy,  when  he  endeavoured  to 
isolate  England  and  to  establish  a  Continental  Blockade. 
Great  Britain  has  always  struggled,  and  struggled  effec- 
tively against  an  agglomeration  of  power.  Her  very 
name  of  "  Perfide  Albion  "  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  she 
has  always  detached  herself  from  a  Power  which  has  shown 
a  tendency  to  become  too  strong,  in  order  to  bolster  up 
the  weak,  which  was  in  danger  of  being  absorbed.  She 
was,  therefore,  pursuing  her  inevitable  policy  of  erecting 
barricades  against  European  dominance  when  she  invited 
France  to  liquidate  outstanding  differences  and  to  add  her 
signature  to  a  friendly  compact. 

With  their  natural  quickness  of  perception,  the  French 
realized  the  moral  and  material  advantages  of  a  closer 
union  with  Great  Britain.  They  saw  the  importance,  even 
without  an  alliance — for  none  exists — of  having  on  their 
side  the  formidable  naval  strength  of  England,  with  its 
ability  to  strike  at  and  destroy  the  enemy's  fleet,  hamper 
its  merchant  service  and  police  the  seas.  At  the  same 
time,  a  certain  anxiety  accompanies  the  satisfaction.  The 
penalty  of  being  linked  to  greatness  is  to  follow  where 
greatness  leads.  France  has  given  hostages  to  fortune  in 
her  Eastern  frontier ;  she  will  have  to  pay  for  the  "  pots 
casses."  She  is  the  buffer  state.  Though  England's  naval 
action  would,  no  doubt,  be  absolutely  effective  in  its  own 
sphere,  the  destruction  of  the  sea-borne  commerce  of 
Germany  would  not  avail  to  prevent  the  invasion  of  the 
soil  of  France.  The  greater  the  damage  inflicted  by 
England,  the  greater  the  indemnity  exacted  of  France. 

There  are  some  who  pretend  that  there  is  positive 
danger  in  this  friendship  with  England,  on  the  ground 
that  it  will  involve  France  in  all  sorts  of  adventure.  John 
Bull  is  the  foolhardy  youth  who  leads  his  companions  into 
mischief.     British  bellicosity  is  encouraged  by  the  thought 


i8o  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

of  the  great  army  of  France,  which  would  be  behind  every 
military  enterprise.  From  this  point  of  view,  no  doubt, 
England  made  a  blunder  in  tactics  in  opposing  the 
Channel  tunnel,  which  would  have  enabled  her  to  be 
victualled  from  the  Continent  and  to  draw  her  military 
supplies  therefrom,  during  the  period  of  hostilities. 

Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  the  Transvaal  War  proved 
a  bad  advertisement  to  British  arms.  Though  the  strong 
patriotic  spirit  prevailing  in  England,  which  induces 
young  men  to  join  the  Territoral  forces,  is  fully  acknow- 
ledged, no  Continental  expert  would  admit  that  England 
has,  in  his  sense,  an  army  at  all.  Her  officers  are  a  "  chic  " 
body  of  sportsmen,  who  take  off  interest  in  military  affairs 
with  their  uniforms.  It  is  firmly  held  in  France  that 
England  cannot  look  for  military  salvation  until  she  has 
adopted  conscription. 

•  Yet,  apart  from  these  arguments  of  financial  and  pro- 
fessional opinion,  there  is  general  satisfaction  in  France 
over  the  renewal  of  that  friendship  which  existed  in  the 
days  of  Louis  Philippe,  and  again  in  the  Second  Empire, 
but  perished  without  leaving  any  fruit.  Even  those  who 
take  a  most  "  terre  a  terre  "  view  %f  international  politics, 
realize  that  England  enables  Fran^  to  hold  her  own  in 
diplomatic  conversations.  Without  her  partner  in  the 
Entente,  France  would  have  emerged  diminished  from 
Algeciras  and,  also,  from  the  negotiations  resulting  from 
the  incident  of  Casablanca,  in  which  German  agents 
assisted  deserters  from  the  French  Foreign  Legion  to 
escape.  The  Eastern  neighbour  is  likely  to  hesitate  to 
attack  if,  in  the  process,  she  loses  her  merchant  shipping. 
It  was  clearly  necessary,  after  the  shattering  of  the  Russian 
power  in  Manchuria,  to  find  a  guarantee. 

Morocco  has  fulfilled  the  predictions  of  those  who 
declared  that  it  would  prove  a  hornets'  nest.     Such,  indeed, 


FRANCE   AND   HER   FOREIGN   RELATIONS     i8i 

has  been  the  case.  Difficulty  has  succeeded  to  difficulty. 
The  problem  is  twofold.  There  are  Moroccan  tribesmen 
living  in  fertile  valleys,  who  are  serious  husbandmen  and 
faithful,  if  fanatical,  Islamites.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
are  the  nomads  of  the  desert,  who  find  difficulty  in  living 
except  by  plunder.  The  agricultural  zone  is  mainly  in 
the  interior  of  the  country,  whilst  the  inhospitable  region, 
which  provides  little  nourishment  for  those  who  inhabit 
it  and  the  caravans  who  cross  it,  is  a  sort  of  Bad  Man's 
Land,  where  marauders  roam  over  the  line  of  the  Algerian 
frontier,  twelve  hundred  miles  long.  It  is  in  watching  this 
border-line  that  the  Algerian  troops  find  their  chief  employ- 
ment. General  Lyautey,  who  until  recently  had  the  high 
military  command,  adopted  the  policy  of  inserting  a  wedge 
of  settled  tribesmen  between  Wild  Morocco  and  Algeria. 

On  the  whole,  the  scheme  works  well,  and  "pacific 
penetration  "  has  come  to  have  a  real  meaning,  symbolizing 
the  constant  efforts  of  the  French  to  bring  order  out  of 
Moroccan  turbulence  and  incoherence.  Her  eighty  years 
of  occupation  of  Algeria  have  not  been  without  their  effect 
upon  Morocco,  with  whom  various  accords  have  been 
made,  commencing  with  1845.  It  is  a  sign  of  pacification 
when  fifty  thousand  Moroccans  cross  into  Algeria,  each 
year,  to  take  part  in  field  work.  A  French  writer  says 
that  "  despite  the  Act  of  Algeciras,  the  Moroccan  question 
has  become  a  Franco-German  question  and  nothing  more." 
Notwithstanding  a  "  ddtente  "  and  a  professed  renunciation 
of  German  policy  in  Morocco,  there  was  a  sudden  renewal 
of  Bismarckian  policy  in  July,  191 1,  in  the  dispatch  of  a 
gunboat  to  Agadir  "  to  protect  German  interests,"  though 
none  could  see  that  they  were  jeopardized.  Yet  if  the  future 
of  this  inchoate  country  is  still  dark,  it  no  longer  depends 
upon  the  ambition  of  Germany,  but  has  become  a  matter  for 
French  and  Spanish  co-operation  and  activity.     And  yet 


1 82  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

one  cannot  forget  that  it  was  the  great  battle-ground 
of  Teutonic  diplomacy.  Fifteen  days  after  Admiral 
Rodjestvenski's  naval  force  was  destroyed  at  the  battle  of 
Tsu  Shima,  Germany  executed  a  "  volte  face  "  in  regard 
to  Morocco,  discovering  interests  where  none  had  been 
suspected.  Since  that  time  she  has  undoubtedly  acquired 
a  financial  stake  in  the  country,  but  the  bulk  of  the 
commerce  remains  with  France,  if  only  because  of  her 
geographical  position.  The  volume  of  French  trade  with 
the  Shereefian  Empire  is  about  two  millions  annually. 

"  Les  amis  de  nos  amis  sont  nos  amis."  It  was  natural 
that  England,  having  concluded  a  treaty  with  France, 
should  be  favourably  disposed  towards  the  partner  of 
France.  Yet,  originally,  negotiations  with  Russia  were 
inspired  with  the  idea  of  regulating  old-standing  disputes 
in  different  parts  of  the  world.  It  was  only  afterwards 
that  their  European  import  was  realized.  To  some  there 
appeared  an  incompatibility  between  the  Anglo-French 
rapprochement  and  the  Franco-Russian  alliance.  One  or 
other  was  certain  to  give  way  under  the  strain  of  divergent 
interests.  This,  at  all  events,  was  the  opinion  of  a  promi- 
nent German  writer.  But  France  found  in  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  ally  and  friend  new  sources  of  moral  strength  and 
authority.  The  consequence  of  the  accord  between  England 
and  Russia  in  1907,  was  momentarily  to  divert  Russian 
policy  from  Berlin  and  Vienna  to  London  and  Paris. 

England's  settlement  of  the  Persian  and  Indian  difficul- 
ties with  her  old  rival  was  almost  simultaneous  with  a 
French  arrangement  with  Spain  on  the  subject  of  Morocco, 
which  encountered  for  a  time,  serious  obstacles  at  Madrid. 
In  the  same  month  of  May,  1907,  England  likewise  con- 
cluded an  agreement  with  Spain,  thus  forging  fresh  links 
in  the  chain  of  diplomatic  understandings  determining  the 
status  of  France  in  the   Mediterranean.     Though   there 


FRANCE   AND   HER   FOREIGN   RELATIONS     183 

were  no  military  clauses  in  the  Franco-Spanish  accord, 
the  instrument  "  marked  progress,"  as  M.  Tardieu  says 
"  in  the  intimate  policy  of  three  peoples." 

Even  more  interesting  is  the  history  of  Franco- Italian 
relations.  Under  the  influence  of  Bismarck,  Crispi  pur- 
sued a  policy  admirably  calculated  to  keep  the  "Latin 
Sisters  "  apart.  Of  the  two,  Italy  was  the  greater  sufferer. 
The  denunciation  of  the  treaty  of  commerce  between  the 
two  countries  resulted  in  great  loss  to  Italy.  A  vast  amount 
of  French  capital  was  withdrawn.  Nor  was  compensation 
found  in  close  political  union  with  Germany.  It  was  only 
when  Crispi's  hand  was  removed  and  his  policy  reversed 
that  the  country  felt  the  impulse  towards  a  larger  destiny. 

Improved  relations  date  from  the  accession  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  III  to  the  throne,  in  1900.  They  sprang,  in 
part,  from  the  assurance  of  France  that  she  had  no  ulterior 
designs  upon  the  Tripolitaine,  in  return  for  which  Italy 
waived  any  claims  she  might  have  upon  Morocco.  This 
was  an  Act  of  Renunciation  on  her  part,  for  Northern 
Africa  has  always  tempted  her.  In  1870,  it  was  publicly 
proposed  in  Rome  to  extend  the  domination  of  United 
Italy  to  Corsica  or  Tunis.  Both  have  seemed  to  Italian 
Imperialists  "  natural  colonies,"  as  well  as  Algeria,  the 
Tripolitaine,  and  even  Egypt.  Italy's  adherence  to  the 
Triple  Alliance  has  been  described  as  the  outward  ex- 
pression of  her  grievances  in  the  Mediterranean.  The 
mitigation  of  those  grievances  blunted  the  apex  of  the 
triangular  agreement,  rendering  it  less  a  weapon  of  offence 
against  France.  When,  in  1902,  the  compact  was  re- 
newed, M.  Delcasse  was  able  to  say  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  that,  nowhere,  the  aspirations  of  the  two  nations 
came  into  conflict. 

Thwarted  colonial  ambitions  thrust  Italy  into  the  arms 
of  Germany,  despite  Magenta  and  Solferino ;  in  the  same 


1 84  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

way,  M.  Loubet's  visit  to  Rome  and  the  rupture  of  the 
Concordat  played  the  game  of  Teutonic  diplomacy.  From 
her  break  with  the  Vatican,  France  has  lost  influence  in 
the  Near  East  as  the  Christian  Protector — to  the  benefit 
of  both  Germany  and  Italy.  Anti-Clericalism,  therefore, 
whatever  its  effects  at  home,  has  diminished  French 
prestige  in  the  Orient,  and  generally  weakened  her  position 
abroad  by  diverting  activities  useful  to  expansion. 

The  ultimate  business  of  foreign  policy  is  the  conserva- 
tion of  influence  and  the  maintenance  of  peace.  What 
is  the  tendency  of  French  policy  abroad  ?  Is  it  towards 
Chauvinism,  towards  Imperialism,  towards  new  conquests 
for  the  flag,  towards  an  enlargement  of  Empire,  towards 
a  material  aggrandizement?  No:  France  seeks  neither 
gold  nor  territory — to  employ  the  words  of  Lord  Salis- 
bury on  a  famous  occasion.  By  the  very  nature  of  things, 
by  the  tendency  of  her  parties,  to-day,  France  is  prevented 
from  even  contemplating  a  war  of  conquest.  If  Morocco 
eventually  falls  to  her,  it  will  be  as  the  result  of  a  slow 
siege,  of  a  policy  of  penetration,  aided,  no  doubt,  by 
some  campaign  such  as  the  Relief  Expedition  to  Fez 
in  191 1.  The  principles  of  democratic  government  are 
peace  and  prosperity  at  home.  No  nation  has  secured  so 
great  a  store  of  wealth.  The  French  peasant's  "  bas  de 
laine"  is  proverbial.  Having  more  liquid  money  than 
other  people,  he  is  less  inclined  to  fight  to  obtain  more — 
for  modern  wars  are  mainly  commercial.  That  is  the 
natural  law.  Prosperity  is  conducive  to  peace  abroad  if 
not  to  contentment  at  home — having  in  mind  the  French 
character. 

Socialism  is  one  factor  in  the  maintenance  of  peace. 
The  theory  of  universal  brotherhood  is  clearly  at  variance 
with  the  launching  of  one  citizen  army  against  another. 
Conscription  is,  therefore,  a  powerful  argument  in  favour 


FRANCE   AND   HER   FOREIGN    RELATIONS     185 

of  peace  amongst  the  nations.  It  is  hardly  to  be  imagined 
that  Universal  Suffrage  is  going  in  cold  blood  to  vote  for 
turning  its  own  sons  into  food  for  powder.  Nor  must  it 
be  forgotten  that  the  Foreign  Legion  bears  the  brunt  of 
the  colonial  wars  of  France.  Jingoism  would  die  if  uni- 
versal service  were  adopted  in  England  and  America. 
The  liability  of  every  citizen  to  serve  with  the  colours  in 
the  prime  of  his  manhood  has  a  most  sobering  influence 
upon  a  bellicose  temperament 

Anti-militarism,  which  has  its  bearing  upon  foreign 
policy,  must  not  be  exaggerated.  It  is  merely  the  passing 
phase  of  revolt  against  that  system  which  has  placed  its 
iron  heel  upon  the  neck  of  the  peoples  of  Europe.  In  its 
more  judicious  aspect  it  has  assumed  the  form  of  the  Peace 
Movement,  to  which  some  of  the  most  enlightened  minds 
have  given  adherence.  But  if  the  trumpet  note  of  pa- 
triotism were  to  sound,  if  there  were  a  call  to  defend  the 
soil  from  the  invader,  be  assured  that  defections  from  the 
ranks  of  the  national  army  would  be  very  small  in  France. 
Meanwhile,  we  have  to  consider  that  the  essential  policy 
of  the  Republic  must  be  pacific.  Intellectually  in  advance 
of  any  nation  in  the  world,  the  French  have  been  the  first 
to  become  infected  with  that  microbe  of  over-refinement 
against  which  Apostles  of  the  Strenuous  Life  raise  a  warn- 
ing voice.  "  What  folly  to  be  asked  to  cut  the  throat  of  a 
human  being  simply  because  he  happens  to  belong  to 
another  nation  "  say  these  doctrinaires,  with  a  paralysing 
philosophy.  In  their  more  active  form,  these  theories  are 
held  by  quite  limited  bodies  of  Frenchmen,  but  Socialism 
in  the  abstract  continues,  in  France  as  in  Germany,  to 
make  insidious  advances.  Perhaps  the  one  fact  balances 
the  other. 

The  Quai  d'Orsay  must  necessarily  conform  its  policy 
with  that  of  the  governors  of  the  day.     War,   whether 


1 86  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

successful  or  otherwise,  would  be  disastrous  to  the  Republic, 
and  its  abstinence  from  all  provocation  is  the  logical  out- 
come of  the  principles  enunciated  from  the  Parliamentary- 
tribunes.  A  successful  war  would  mean  a  successful  leader, 
and  that  leader  would  probably  find  an  open  way  to  the 
Ely  see  and  a  dictatorship.  Military  disaster,  on  the  other 
hand,  might  bring  back  the  Commune,  notwithstanding 
the  gigantic  fiasco  of  the  last  experiment.  To  wage  a 
European  war  with  impunity,  it  is  necessary  to  have — 
amongst  other  things — a  solidly  established  regime.  Who 
can  say,  with  confidence,  that  the  present  French  system 
would  stand  the  shock,  either  of  success  or  failure  ?  Ob- 
viously, the  best  course  is  to  continue  in  the  unheroic 
paths  of  peace.  Nor  is  France  alone  in  her  reluctance  to 
embark  upon  military  adventures.  With  the  exception  of 
England,  what  dynasty  is  sufficiently  firm  upon  the  throne 
to  enable  the  monarch  to  enter  "  with  light  heart " —  to 
again  quote  the  ill-fated  expression  of  Emile  Ollivier,  on 
the  eve  of  the  Franco- Prussian  war — upon  a  European 
campaign  ? 

The  effects  of  a  pacific  policy  are  seen  everywhere  in 
French  action  abroad.  The  symbol  of  her  activities  is  the 
olive  branch,  and  not  the  big  stick,  in  world  politics.  She 
exercises  the  calming  influence.  A  "  detente  "  being  visible 
in  her  relations  with  Germany,  France  is,  at  the  present 
moment,  less  menaced  probably  than  at  any  time  since  the 
"  alerte"  of  1875.  Even  if  Europe  were  content  to  stand 
by  and  see  it  done,  a  new  attempt  to  crush  France  is  almost 
inconceivable.  To  her  has  come  the  peace  that  is  the  re- 
ward of  inoffensiveness.  Though  this  is  not  the  role  that 
her  most  ardent  sons  would  wish  for  her,  France  must  pay 
the  penalty  of  hyper-civilization,  of  high  social  development 
and  overflowing  wealth. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE    ROMANCE   OF   COLONIAL   EMPIRE 

IT  was  only  yesterday  that  it  was  customary  to 
indulge  in  much  cheap  wit  at  the  expense  of  France 
as  a  colonizing  agent.  We  were  told  that  many  of 
her  colonies  had  as  many"fonctionnaires"  as  "administres"  ; 
that  none  was  self-supporting,  and,  finally,  that  the  whole 
system  of  empire-building  overseas  was  a  gigantic  failure, 
an  expensive  farce.  Even  now  there  is  truth  in  the  sugges- 
tion that  the  French  are  not  naturally  colonists ;  the 
young  man  does  not  emigrate  if  he  can  help  it.  His 
pulses  do  not  throb  at  the  thought  of  vast  dominions 
where  the  musk  ox  roams,  of  rivers  teeming  with  fish, 
where  the  beaver  builds  its  dam,  nor  of  fertile  plains  only 
awaiting  the  plough — of  virgin  forests  aflame  with  tropical 
flowers.  The  deep  valleys  do  not  speak  to  him  of  sites 
for  future  cities,  nor  do  the  lofty  crags,  piercing  the  sky, 
tempt  his  courageous  feet.  The  wild  untamed  torrents 
roar  in  vain  to  him — torrents  that  could  be  harnessed  to 
a  thousand  wheels  and  perform  the  work  of  myriad  men. 
Vast  potentiality  of  uninhabited  earth,  it  makes  no  appeal, 
neither  for  the  manliness  engendered,  nor  for  the  liberty 
that  prevails  in  a  country  of  wide  horizons. 

When  Gambetta  cried  one  day, "  Do  we  not  seem  to  stifle 
in  this  old  Continent?"  he  found,  perhaps,  no  answering 
echo  in  his  compatriots'  heart.  In  any  case,  the  French- 
man is  little  inclined  to  seek  his  fortune  abroad ;  but  our 

187 


1 88        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

generalizations  must  not  be  too  wide,  for  there  is  a  race 
of  Frenchmen — De  Brazza,  Marchand,  Lenfant,  Mangin — 
who  are  of  the  real  stuff  of  pioneers.  And  a  hardened 
class  of  emigrants  exists,  particularly  in  the  Auvergne, 
which  has  settled  in  Algeria  with  success.  But  this  is  the 
exception.  The  peasant's  fidelity  to  the  soil  of  France  is 
proof,  perhaps,  that  he  is  well  enough  at  home.  Every 
Jacques  has  his  bit  of  land,  and  is  not  to  be  disturbed 
in  possession  of  it  by  the  thought  that  away  yonder,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  "  inland,  dolorous  sea,"  exists  an 
estate  claiming  his  energies.  He  prefers  the  certain  small 
bird  in  the  hand  and  the' dear  home  land  as  a  cage  to  the 
two  brilliant  plumaged  cre^itures  in  the  Colonial  bush. 

The  Colonial  School,  founded  to  foster  amongst  other 
things  the  Colonial  spirit  amongst  civilians  and  to  teach 
the  Colonist  and  functionary  the  arts  of  the  pioneer — 
woodcraft,  agriculture,  and  the  rest — has  never  made  a 
great  appeal  to  French  sentiment.  Every  annual  report 
bemoans  the  lack  of  enthusiasm  amongst  the  rising 
generation,  so  few  of  whom  desire  to  profit  by  the 
facilities.  Yet,  in  face  of  these  difficulties,  and  of  their 
natural  reluctance  to  leave  their  pleasant  land,  the  French 
have  won  their  right  to  the  name  and  place  of  the  second 
Colonizing  Powei^.  Their  African  possessions  are  admir- 
ably managed;  Algeria  is  a  standing  credit  to  French 
administration,  and  shows  constant  industrial  and  social 
progress  ;  Indo-China,  though  a  somewhat  bigger  problem, 
is  by  no  means  discouraging ;  Madagascar  makes  progress ; 
and,  indeed,  in  most  places  where  the  tricolour  flies,  there 
are  evidences  of  good  work  done  in  the  development  of 
natural  resources  and  in  implanting  ideas  of  civilization 
in  the  natives. 

Algeria  is  the  oldest  of  the  actual  colonies,  as  well  as  the 
most  important,  and  has  had  more  than  eighty  years  of 


TLEMCEN,  CASCADES  DE   L'OUED  MEFROUCH 


THE   ROMANCE  OF  COLONIAL  EMPIRE        189 

French  rule.  Properly,  it  belongs  to  Louis  Philippe's 
reign,  and  one  of  those  whose  names  figure  prominently 
in  the  Colonial  roll  is  the  Due  d'Aumale,  the  King's  fourth 
son.  The  Duke  proved  himself  a  dashing  cavalry  leader, 
as  when,  in  defiance  of  staff  orders,  and  with  only  six 
hundred  troopers,  he  attacked  and  routed  an  army  of 
Algerians  three  times  the  number.  But,  called  to  the 
general  government,  he  developed  into  an  able  adminis- 
trator. He  had  much  to  do  with  the  settlement  of  France's 
Colonial  Empire,  and  his  achievements  cast  a  military 
aureole  over  the  waning  popularity  of  his  pacific  father. 
The  French  excuse  for  the  occupation  of  Algeria  was  the 
piracy  of  the  Algerians.  They  were  constantly  interfering 
with  French  trade,  and  were  secretly  inspired,  or  so  the 
French  thought,  by  England  and  Holland.  Throughout 
the  pages  of  French  Colonial  history  you  will  find  many 
references  to  the  wicked  and  designing  English.  We  were 
perpetually  at  war  with  France  over  Colonial  questions,  and 
our  arms  came  into  conflict  with  hers  at  different  points  on 
the  globe.  Her  Colonial  Empire  practically  ceased  to 
exist  after  the  Napoleonic  wars,  and  that  it  was  so,  was 
largely  due  to  us  and  our  unceasing  activity  in  checking 
her  colonizing  ambitions. 

Blood  and  treasure  were  poured  out  in  Algeria  with 
unsparing  hand.  The  capture  of  Constantine,  which 
came  near  the  end  of  the  Orleanist  reign,  cost  the  life  of 
a  general,  and,  at  every  step,  young  officers  perished  in 
ambush  or  in  the  open  field.  It  is  a  rugged,  difficult 
country  to  fight  in  ;  the  Arabs  are  a  warlike,  intractable 
race,  nor  have  they  ever  been  attracted  to  French  rule. 
Even  after  so  many  years  of  domination,  they  are  regarded 
as  an  uncertain  clement,  and  the  proposition  to  embody 
them  for  military  defence  of  the  territory  has  always 
excited    the    apprehension     of    the    European    settlers. 


I  go  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

Algiers,  to-day,  is  being  covered  with  a  network  of  rail- 
ways, and  is  showing  a  remarkable  disposition  to  respond 
to  French  capital  and  intelligence,  particularly  in  mining 
and  agriculture.  Many  model  farms  exist  in  Algeria,  and 
farming  operations,  as  a  rule,  are  carried  on  intelligently 
and  with  the  employment  of  a  good  working  plant.  The 
rising  generation  of  Arabs,  too,  is  attending  school,  and 
considerable  numbers  profit  by  the  opportunities  given 
for  education  in  the  elements  of  knowledge  and  in  the  arts 
and  sciences.  Civilizing  forces  are  at  work  with  good 
results.  The  climate  is  delightful  and  the  conditions  of 
life  generally  agreeable,  nor,  of  course,  are  the  inhabitants 
"  black  people  "  as  the  French  themselves  have  sometimes 
called  them  in  their  ignorance.  They  are  almost  the 
colour  and  have  many  of  the  racial  characteristics  of 
a  Frenchman  of  the  central  plateau.  If  you  came, 
suddenly,  upon  a  meeting  of  notables  in  Algeria,  for 
instance,  you  might  readily  suppose  that  you  were  in  the 
midst  of  a  company  of  provincial  French,  the  burnous  re- 
placing the  blue  smock  of  the  peasant  or  the  broadcloth 
of  the  townsman.  French,  too,  is  spoken  freely,  all  over 
the  country ;  French  laws,  manners,  and  customs  have 
generally  established  themselves.  It  is  a  delightful 
country,  yielding  to  none  in  its  possibilities  for  the  future. 
Morocco,  of  course,  hinges  on  to  Algeria  and  presents 
great  difficulties  by  reason  of  the  constant  menace  of 
marauders.  The  border  line  is  ill  defined,  and  the  roving 
tribesmen  of  the  Sultan's  inchoate  Empire  have  the  great- 
est difficulty  in  distinguishing  "meum  "  from  " tuum."  The 
Moroccan  problem,  of  course,  does  not  occur  in  quite  the 
acute  form  in  which  it  presented  itself  some  five  or  six 
years  ago,  since  Europe  has  given  a  police  mandate  to 
France  and  Spain,  recognizing  their  superior  rights  ;  at  the 
same  time,  the  path  to  Fez,  whether  reached  diplomatically 


THE   ROMANCE   OF  COLONIAL   EMPIRE        191 

or  at  the  bayonet's  point,  has  been  proved  sufficiently 
difficult  by  the  Relief  Expedition  of  191 1  to  cause  the 
reflective  to  say,  "  Trouble  ahead."  In  the  cynical  mood 
that  sometimes  descends  upon  a  Frenchman  he  will  de- 
clare, despite  the  "  Entente  Cordiale  " — that  England  made 
no  real  effort  to  check  France  in  Northern  Africa,  because 
she  knew  the  difficulties  that  lay  in  that  region  and  thought 
that,  sooner  or  later,  the  task  would  be  renounced.  France 
has  not  renounced,  and  continues  valiantly  to  go  forward 
in  her  work  of  civilization.  General  Lyautey's  plan,  to 
which  I  have  already  alluded,  is  ingenious  and  generally 
successful.  When  commander-in-chief  of  the  Algerian 
army,  charged  with  the  safety  of  the  colony,  he  devised 
a  scheme  for  planting  a  colony  of  tame  Moors  in  a  sort  of 
neutral  country  between  their  own  wild  tribesmen  and  the 
nationals  of  France.  These  settled  Moors  oppose  a  natural 
barrier  to  the  nomads,  and  offer,  also,  hostages  to  fortune 
in  their  own  persons  and  homesteads. 

France  has  conceived  the  happy  plan  of  making  con- 
quests and  maintaining  them  with  the  aid  of  foreigners. 
Few  of  her  own  children  have  taken  part  in  the  "  little 
wars  "  which,  day  by  day,  dog  the  path  of  the  Empire- 
builder  and  consolidate  his  work.  Algeria  has  been  won 
for  France  by  her  Foreign  Legion,  which  is  recruited  from 
every  country  save  France,  but  is  officered  by  Frenchmen. 
In  addition  to  this  Foreign  Legion,  which  has  a  reputation 
for  devilment — the  legionaries  are  the  courageous  scally- 
wags of  the  world,  broken  in  fortune,  but  brimful  of  man- 
hood— are  bodies  of  native  or  semi-native  troops.  The 
Zouaves,  so  named  from  a  warlike  tribe  with  whom  they 
battled  in  days  gone  by,  were  originally  composed  of 
Colonists  and  Arabs,  but,  to-day,  are  exclusively  French. 
Then  there  are  the  Tirailleurs  Algeriens  or  Turcos,  and 
other  bodies  mainly  composed  of  native  warriors. 


192  FRANCE   AND  THE  FRENCH 

We  shall  have  to  proceed  farther  down  towards  the 
Equator  before  we  discover  the  real  black  man. 

What  are  properly  designated  native  troops  belong, 
more  especially,  to  the  other  African  regions  of  the  French 
Empire.  It  is  in  Western  Equatorial  Africa  that  you  find 
a  splendid  race  of  coloured  fighting  men  in  the  Senegalese. 
In  the  Colonial  enterprises  of  France  in  the  last  fifty  years 
or  so  they  have  played  a  brilliant  part.  Extraordinarily 
faithful,  endowed  with  a  natural  instinct  for  discipline,  and 
finding,  in  the  constitution  of  the  regiment,  the  image  of 
their  own  family  and  tribal  formation,  they  naturally  obey 
the  orders  of  the  military  chiefs,  in  whose  wisdom  they 
have  a  childlike  faith.  Many  are  the  deeds  of  heroism 
performed  by  these  black  fellows  in  their  fights  against 
the  enemies  of  France,  and  cases  are  on  record  where 
regiments  have  been  decimated  and  not  a  man  dismayed 
or  driven  to  flight.  When  the  men  are  killed  off,  the 
women  take  their  places,  and  load  and  fire  the  rifles  with 
an  astonishing  "sang-froid."  The  Senegalese  are  always 
accompanied  by  their  wives  and  children  into  battle,  and 
are  inseparable  from  them. 

The  West  African  negro  transplants  well.  He  was 
sent  to  Morocco  to  aid  in  the  settlement  of  the  Casablanca 
incident,  in  which  the  Moors  murdered  French  workmen. 
A  punitive  expedition  was  the  result.  The  Senegalese  ex- 
hibited extraordinary  powers  of  endurance,  chasing  the 
enemy  for  miles  into  the  country.  Nor  did  they  seem  to 
suffer  in  health  from  an  absence  of  warm  clothing. 
Again,  in  the  pacification  of  Madagascar,  after  the 
dethroning  of  Queen  Ranavolla,  the  black  troops  earned 
the  praises  of  General  Gallieni,  Governor-General  and 
Military  Commander  of  the  island.  And  his  encomiums 
were  the  more  remarked  because  they  did  not  include 
the  regiments  of  Arabs,  as  uncertain  in  the  field  as  they 


THE   ROMANCE   OF   COLONIAL   EMPIRE        193 

are  in  the  other  relations  of  life.  One  must  not  forget, 
however,  the  valour  of  the  "  Turcos,"  partially  com- 
posed of  Arab  elements,  who,  after  the  battle  of  Froesch- 
viller  in  1870,  marched  for  days  through  forests,  living 
upon  roots,  and  finally  planted  a  tattered  flag  on  the 
walls  of  Strasburg.  If  a  proud  people,  the  sons  of 
Islam  are  generally  fickle  and  unstable,  whilst  the  negro 
is  naive,  courageous,  and  steadfast.  These  military 
qualities  have  been  recognized  by  his  commanders,  and 
it  was  on  the  invitation  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mangin, 
of  the  Colonial  Infantry,  that  the  experiment  of  recruiting 
black  troops  for  permanent  service  abroad  was  first  begun. 
Always  doubtful  of  the  fidelity  of  the  Arab,  particularly 
when  taught  to  use  the  weapons  of  his  conquerors,  the 
French  residents  in  Algeria  experienced  a  sense  of  con- 
fidence when  the  first  contingent  of  black  troops  landed  at 
Algiers.  This  good  opinion  of  the  black  man  as  a  body- 
guard has  not,  up  to  the  present  moment,  been  belied  by 
reason  of  a  contrary  experience. 

France  is  a  singularly  compact  empire.  It  extends  from 
the  English  Channel  right  to  the  heart  of  Equatorial  Africa, 
to  the  once  mysterious  Timbuctoo  itself — and  beyond,  in 
an  easterly  direction.  This  gives  homogeneity  to  French 
rule  and  dominion.  Everywhere  is  her  influence  felt; 
everywhere  she  is  leaving  her  impress  on  the  natives, 
teaching  them  the  arts  of  civilization  and  causing  them 
to  abandon  their  old  pagan  practices.  It  is  also  evident 
that  she  has  carried  with  her  her  own  complicated  system 
of  taxation  and  customs.  This  is  particularly  seen  in 
Indo-China,  where,  probably,  it  is  most  resented.  In  their 
dealings  with  the  yellow  race  the  French  are  less  happy 
than  when  in  contact  with  the  black.  But  we  discuss  this 
question  later  on. 

In  the  great  Sahara,  French  enterprise  is  seen  in  the 
13 


194  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

exploitation  of  the  oases.  A  French  company,  as  well  as 
native  proprietors,  owns  vast  plantations  of  palms.  Thanks 
to  the  splendid  work  of  French  civil  and  military  engineers, 
the  old  desert  wells,  which  have  been  silted  up  for  years, 
have  been  re-sunk ;  new  Artesian  wells  have  been  bored, 
and  the  desert  made  to  blossom  as  the  rose.  The  rustling 
of  the  wind  through  the  palm  trees  and  the  grateful  sound 
of  water  are  heard  as  the  traveller  approaches  these  beauty 
spots,  lying  like  pearls  in  the  great  ocean  of  sand.  In  the 
purple  and  rose  of  the  dawn,  in  the  glorious  freshness  of 
the  air  blowing  straight  out  of  heaven,  uncontaminated  by 
earthly  influence ;  in  the  soft  yielding  sand — even  in  the 
kiss  of  the  Sirocco,  is  magic  and  mystery.  A  man  may 
ride  for  months  straight  towards  the  sun  and  never  come 
to  an  end  of  this  vast  region.  The  strange  towns  built 
with  stone  corridors  for  shade  from  the  relentless  sun ;  the 
weird  and  fascinating  people  of  the  desert ;  the  blue-veiled 
Tuaregs,  mounted  on  their  richly  caparisoned  war-camels ; 
the  dancing  girls,  with  their  crowns  of  pendent  golden 
louis,  passing  from  town  to  town  to  enliven  the  cafes  with 
their  disconcerting  entertainments ;  the  solemn  and  digni- 
fied chieftains  in  their  splendid  robes  of  ceremony  riding 
gravely  out  to  meet  the  stranger :  these  are  things  to  thrill 
the  traveller  of  romantic  impulse  in  search  of  new  sensa- 
tions. At  present  the  desert  is  unspoiled.  One  is  carried 
to  Biskra  in  the  train,  Biskra,  where  is  situated  the  "  Garden 
of  Allah  " — the  Count's  garden  known  and  loved  by  every 
reader  of  Hichens'  entrancing  novel.  It  exists  with  its 
groves,  its  amorous  flute-player,  its  sun-dial,  and  its  hun- 
dred enchantments  of  sunshine  and  shadow.  Biskra  is  the 
gateway,  the  Gibraltar  of  the  French  Soudan  ;  through  its 
massive  walls  we  must  pass  into  the  Great  Lone  Land  with 
its  fleet  Bedouins,  its  incomparable  sunsets  and  its  calm. 
Some  day  commercial  people  will   carry  the  railway  to 


THE   ROMANCE   OF   COLONIAL   EMPIRE        195 

Touggourt,  deep  placed  in  the  wilderness,  and  now  only 
accessible  on  horse  and  mule  back,  several  days*  journey 
from  Biskra.  And  such  an  extension  of  modern  trans- 
portation, displacing  the  leisurely  picturesque  caravan,  is 
rendered  necessary  by  the  growing  industry  of  the  date- 
palm,  which  each  year  becomes  more  considerable,  and 
represents  a  greater  investment  of  French  and  Arab 
capital. 

To  the  iron  road  will  be  added,  in  the  near  future, 
another  means  of  transportation,  another  symbol  of  civil- 
ization. The  aeroplane  has  been  enlisted  in  the  Colonial 
service.  In  Madagascar,  it  is  destined  to  carry  mails  over 
the  high  plateau  which  separates  Tananarive  from  Fiana- 
rantsoa,  the  great  commercial  centre  of  the  South.  In  the 
great  Sahara  it  sails  proudly  over  the  stony  desert  steppes, 
an  instrument  of  military  domination  and  an  engine  of 
observation,  rather  than  the  Mercury  of  the  "Postes." 
Journeys  that  on  camel-back  take  weeks  and  months,  the 
aeroplane  accomplishes  in  hours  and  days.  It  is  a  revo- 
lution fraught  with  immeasurable  consequences. 

Here  is,  clearly,  the  colonizer  of  the  future.  In  places 
where  the  railway  cannot  penetrate  by  reason  of  the 
marshy  character  of  the  soil,  or  because  of  other  physical 
difficulties,  the  aeroplane  wings  its  way  along  the  aerial 
route,  unconscious  of  terrestrial  obstacles  and  regarded  by 
the  natives  as  a  friendly  messenger  of  peace,  the  benevo- 
lent winged  herald  of  the  protecting  Power.  Whilst  in 
war  the  air-machine  has  its  deadly  mission  to  fulfil  in  the 
dropping  of  bombs  and  in  the  reconnaissance  of  the  enemy's 
forces,  in  peace  time  it  is  the  real  ''  bird  of  freedom,"  the 
ensign  of  a  brotherhood  linking  people  to  people. 

In  Madagascar,  one  of  the  acknowledged  difficulties  is 
the  sparseness  of  the  population,  thinner  than  the  most 
thinly  peolped  department  in  France.     The  Hindu  does 


196  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

very  well  in  Madagascar,  adapting  himself  admirably  to 
the  mode  of  life.  A  proposition  was  made  by  one  of  the 
Governors-General  to  invite  immigration  from  British 
India,  but  the  Home  Government  never  took  kindly  to 
the  scheme,  though  an  experiment  on  a  limited  scale 
showed  that  the  colonists  were  just  the  material  wanted. 
Madagascar  makes  progress  along  the  right  lines,  but  it  is 
somewhat  slow  for  the  very  reason  of  "  un  manque  de 
bras,"  as  the  French  phrase  is.  Without  population, 
obviously,  there  can  be  no  great  development  and,  for  the 
moment,  there  seems  no  likelihood  of  increase.  A  pro- 
position, in  a  sense  contrary  to  the  one  I  have  just  quoted, 
would  have  transported  the  Malagasy  labourer  to  the 
mines  of  South  Africa,  in  place  of  the  Chinese.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  that  such  a  project  was  immediately 
vetoed  by  the  French  authorities. 

In  Indo-China  the  problems  are  acutcr  than  elsewhere, 
because  here  the  French  are  face  to  face  with  an  old 
civilization  and  with  a  people  who,  if  nowadays  some- 
what decadent  and  given  to  opium-smoking,  are  certainly 
acutely  intelligent.  Indo-China,  proper,  consists  of  Ton- 
kin, Annam  (with  Laos),  and  Cochin  China,  forming  the 
seaboard  of  the  China  Sea  and  with  spheres  of  influence 
in  Siam  and  a  Protectorate  in  Cambodia.  It  was  the 
exploits  of  a  certain  Tu-Duc  which  first  called  the  French 
to  the  country.  He  murdered  missionaries  and  behaved 
with  an  astounding  disregard  of  European  interests.  He 
was  the  Emperor  of  Annam  and  had  an  unflattering  opinion 
of  the  French.  In  one  of  his  famous  edicts  to  the  people 
he  declared  that  the  foreigners  barked  like  dogs  and  fled 
like  goats.  Probably  he  came  afterwards  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  bit  like  dogs  and  butted  like  goats.  In  any 
case,  for  a  long  time  he  defied  the  French,  and  died,  I 
think,  without  having  come   into  personal  contact  with 


THE   ROMANCE  OF  COLONIAL  EMPIRE       197 

the  conquerors.  These  Tu-Duc  incidents  occurred  before 
affairs  in  Tonkin  had  brought  about  the  downfall  of  the 
first  great  Colonist  in  France,  Jules  Ferry — if  we  except 
Colbert,  Thiers,  and  Gambetta,  whose  colonizing  instincts 
had  no  chance  of  a  practical  expression.  But,  before  that, 
in  thie  days  of  the  Sixteenth  Louis,  an  Annam  deputation 
asked  the  French  to  protect  the  country  from  its  local 
enemies.  Fifty  years  ago,  French  and  English  were 
jointly  concerned  in  a  campaign  with  the  Chinese.  This, 
no  doubt,  was  the  beginning  of  the  Far  Eastern  policy  of 
France  and,  by  enfeebling  China,  brought  on  the  great 
struggle  between  Russia  and  Japan  that  terminated  in  the 
sanguinary  battles  of  Manchuria.  Tonkin,  Annam,  Siam, 
Cochin-China  are  so  many  stages  in  a  persistent  policy  to 
spread  French  interest  in  the  Indo-Chinese  peninsula. 
The  fortunes  of  war,  or  rather  its  misfortunes,  have 
driven  France  out  of  India  ;  nothing  is  left  to  her  of  the 
grandiose  ambitions  of  Dupleix  except  Pondichery,  Chan- 
dernagore  and  three  other  small  towns  in  which  she  is  for- 
bidden to  keep  the  slightest  military  force.  Chandernagore 
is  curious  for  its  separate  laws  and  extra-territoriality.  It 
has  become  a  sort  of  Alsatia  for  criminal  characters  and 
has  given  the  Calcutta  police  a  certain  amount  of  trouble. 
This  very  fact  inspired  overtures  on  the  part  of  the  British 
Government  to  obtain  the  cession  of  the  town  and  territory, 
but  they  came  to  nothing.  The  mere  threat  of  a  bargain 
of  the  sort  provoked  an  interpellation  in  the  French 
Chamber,  withdrawn  on  the  assurance  of  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  that  no  real  negotiations  had  been  begun. 
The  fact  of  a  sanctuary  may  inspire — if  one  takes  a 
cynical  view  of  human  nature— the  loyalty  of  the  inhabit- 
ants to  France.  It  is  claimed  that  in  the  French  "en- 
claves "  the  native  lives  on  better  terms  with  the  dominant 
white  man  than  elsewhere  in  the  great  Peninsula.     There 


198  FRANCE   AND  THE  FRENCH 

is  a  story  of  a  French  Indian,  who,  brought  before  an 
Annam  magistrate,  proudly  declared  his  nationality  in 
these  terms :  "  We  were  French  a  hundred  years  before  you." 
In  Annam  and  Cochin  China  the  brotherly  love  that 
would  seem  to  prevail  between  the  Hindu  and  his  French 
rulers  is  less  conspicuous.  The  petty  tyranny  of  the 
functionary  is  constantly  referred  to  in  yearly  reports, 
and  M.  Messimy,  Reporter  to  the  Colonial  Budget  in 
1909,  lays  special  stress  upon  it  when  talking  of  the  Indo- 
Chinese  provinces.  It  is  recounted  that  at  one  official 
luncheon  given  by  a  Governor-General  an  Annamite 
militiaman  stood  behind  each  guest's  chair.  Some  eighteen 
or  twenty  of  the  same  force  were  enlisted  in  the  service 
of  Monsieur  le  Gouverneur  or  of  Madame  his  wife,  in  the 
capacity  of  coachmen  and  gardeners,  cooks,  and  other 
domestics.  As  to  the  taxes,  they  are  hardly  to  be  borne, 
and  have  raised  such  a  feeling  of  irritation  in  the  breast 
of  the  usually  mild  Annamite  that,  according  to  M. 
Eugene  Brieux,  the  French  dramatist,  who  recently 
travelled  in  those  parts,  he  is  ready  to  free  himself  from 
the  foreign  yoke  at  the  first  opportunity.  His  chief  com- 
plaint is  not  so  much  the  amount  of  taxation  as  the 
manner  of  levying  it.  Life  is  made  insupportable  by  the 
multiplicity  and  complexity  of  the  demands ;  stamps  for 
this  document  and  that,  taxes  on  rice,  taxes  on  salt  and 
alcohol  and  opium,  and  everything  for  which  the  Oriental 
has  an  unholy  appetite.  "  Fonctionnaires  "  are  disdainful, 
and,  worse  still,  their  name  is  legion.  Unlike  the  popu- 
lation at  home,  they  increase  and  multiply.  The  French 
look  covetously  upon  the  English  system  of  a  few  func- 
tionaries well  paid ;  their  system  is  exactly  the  opposite : 
a  vast  number  insufficiently  remunerated.  Scandal  of 
various  sorts  is  the  result,  though  it  is  possible  that  the 
abuses  of  power,  related  in  the  newspapers,  lose  nothing 


THE   ROMANCE   OF   COLONIAL   FMPIRE        199 

in  the  telling,  our  Frenchman  taking  an  odd  pleasure  in 
writing  himself  down  as  black  as  possible. 

One  of  the  most  unfortunate  systems  is  the  salt  "  regie," 
which  has  resulted  in  closing  numbers  of  saline  works 
simply  because  it  became  unprofitable  to  continue.  The 
alcohol  monopoly  appears,  also,  to  have  given  rise  to 
abuse ;  the  sale  of  opium  continues  to  be  a  potent  cause 
of  degradation,  and  raises  the  continual  protest  of  the 
reformer  at  home.  M.  Messimy's  remedy  is  to  put  a  pro- 
hibitive tax  on  the  drug  so  that  none  but  the  rich  can 
buy.  He  rather  naively  adds  that  this  will  affect  the 
Chinese,  in  whom  France  has  no  particular  interest.  But  if 
only  "  the  happy  few  "  are  to  be  allowed  opium,  why  con- 
tinue the  sale  at  all  ?  Is  not  its  suppression  better  ?  It  is 
admittedly  hard  to  stamp  out  the  custom.  In  one  district 
where  the  experiment  was  tried,  and  where,  theoretically, 
not  an  ounce  of  opium  was  sold,  the  mandarins  and  others 
addicted  to  it  exhibited  none  of  the  distressing  symptoms 
which  a  sudden  deprivation  of  the  drug  entails.  By  cir- 
cuitous and  thoroughly  Oriental  means  they  had  managed 
to  obtain  the  poison.  But  its  effects,  morally  and  physi- 
cally, are  deplorable  upon  the  white  as  well  as  the  yellow 
man.  France,  itself,  has  reason  to  know  this,  for  the  habit 
has  made  great  inroads  in  her  Colonial  army.  Periodi- 
cally opium  dens  are  closed  at  Toulon  and  in  other  ports 
in  contact  with  the  East.  Indo-China  is  the  least  flourish- 
ing of  the  French  possessions  simply  because,  there,  the 
peculiar  defects  of  the  over-centralized  French  system 
have  been  given  the  greatest  opportunities  to  manifest 
themselves.  And,  again,  the  population  is  of  the  tempera- 
ment to  resent  the  peculiarly  irritating  red-tape  methods 
of  the  French  people.  Nevertheless,  France,  having  lost 
India,  tries  to  satisfy  her  wounded  pride  with  territory 
equal  in  size  to  thirty  French  departments. 


2  00  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

Though  the  presence  of  the  multitudinous  functionary 
complicates  matters  by  estranging  the  native,  France  is 
clever  enough  to  fete  the  potentate,  who,  from  time  to 
time,  visits  Paris.  Sisowath,  the  merry  monarch  of  Cam- 
bodia, brought  to  the  French  capital  his  famous  corps  of 
ballet  dancers,  and  was  handsomely  entertained.  He  took 
so  kindly  to  the  pleasures  of  Lutetia  that  he  was  with 
difficulty  constrained  to  return  to  the  comparatively  quiet 
joys  of  Pnom-Penh. 

Ferry's  downfall  was  directly  to  be  attributed  to  the 
reverse  at  Langson  in  the  famous  Tonkin  campaign  of 
1884-5.  It  was  particularly  unfortunate  for  the  politician, 
who  anticipated  a  crowning  result  of  his  long  labours  for 
the  Colonial  Empire,  and  would  undoubtedly  have  suc- 
ceeded had  the  war  been  allowed  to  take  its  course.  But 
the  French  public  had  become  nervous  and  restless,  and, 
acting  with  habitual  ingratitude,  dismissed  the  faithful 
servant  from  office  with  the  added  injury  of  insult.  As 
the  fallen  Minister  drove  from  the  Chamber,  in  his  car- 
riage, after  the  debate  on  the  retreat  of  Langson,  the  mob 
attempted  to  throw  him  into  the  Seine.  On  that,  as  on 
other  occasions  in  his  tormented  political  career — he  was, 
probably,  the  most  unpopular  man  in  the  Republic — he 
preserved  the  sang-froid  and  dignity  which  earned  for  him 
the  title  of  "  the  Gentleman  of  the  Parisian  Democracy." 
At  that  very  time,  he  was  about  to  obtain  from  China 
a  treaty  of  peace  recognizing  the  French  Protectorate  over 
Tonkin  and  Annam. 

The  modern  Apostle  of  Greater  France  is  M.  Etienne, 
Vice-President  of  the  Chamber  and  one  of  the  deputies  for 
Oran,  the  Southern  province  of  Algeria.  M.  Etienne  has 
made  a  speciality  of  Colonial  matters,  founding  his  work  on 
that  of  Mr.  Chamberlain.  The  French  politician  has  also 
asked  his  countrymen  to  "  think  Imperially,"  and  has,  to 


THE   ROMANCE   OF   COLONIAL   EMPIRE        201 

some  extent,  succeeded.  If  there  is  no  flow  of  immigra- 
tion to  France  overseas,  there  is  a  distinct  interest  in  the 
Colonies.  In  this,  the  Press  has  helped.  The  '"  Matin  " 
patriotically  waves  the  flag  when  some  daring  officer  crosses 
mountains,  hitherto  regarded  as  inaccessible,  opens  a  fresh 
route  across  the  desert,  discovers  water-courses,  or  brings 
new  light  to  bear  upon  undeveloped  provinces.  "  La 
Depeche  Coloniale  "  likewise  performs  a  very  useful  work 
in  popularizing  Colonial  subjects.  The  day  may  come  when 
the  "  Ecole  des  Fonctionnaires  "  suggested  by  M.  Augag- 
neur,  ex-Governor  of  Madagascar,  materializes;  in  the  mean- 
time, the  Office  Colonial,  the  most  interesting  enterprise 
founded  by  M.  Etienne  in  his  Colonial  schemes,  has  re- 
ceived a  reinforcement  of  officials.  Alas,  that  every  reform 
in  France  is  accompanied  by  an  addition  to  the  plethoric 
ranks  of  the  functionary  ! 

The  Office  Colonial  in  the  Palais  Royal  is  at  once  a 
museum,  a  library,  and  a  bureau  of  information.  It  is 
much  frequented  by  young  and  ambitious  natives  of  the 
French  dominions,  who  hanker  after  official  appointments. 
Perhaps  the  incorporation  of  the  educated  native  in 
some  administrative  capacity  is  the  solution  of  French 
government  abroad.  None  of  the  colonies  has  autonomy 
at  present.  No  one  thinks  of  applying  it  to  Algeria. 
Though  the  country  is  well  settled  and  the  Arabs  wear 
the  look  of  contentment — as  much  as  the  sons  of  Islam 
can  look  contented  under  the  foreign  yoke — there  is  no 
serious  suggestion,  even,  of  sending  sixty  deputies  in  bur- 
nous to  the  Chamber.  The  Negro  states  of  Middle  Africa 
are  not,  of  course,  sufficiently  advanced  for  self-govern- 
ment ;  but,  when  you  deal  with  the  yellow  man,  you  have 
a  different  material,  much  more  malleable,  much  more  sus- 
ceptible of  imitation  ;  and  it  is  likely  enough  that  the 
Tonkinois  and   Annamites  will,  before  long,  have  their 


202  FRANCE  AND  THE   FRENCH 

Parliaments.  But  this  is  advancing  matters.  Before  that 
day  arrives  they  will  have  ceased,  perhaps,  to  be  French 
*'  proteges  "  to  become — who  knows  ?  Japanese.  Hereby 
we  are  reminded  that  a  foreign  policy  is  necessary  in 
relation  to  Indo- China,  whereas  it  does  not  exist  in  the 
African  domain  of  France.  The  reason  is  that  the  Yellow 
Danger  has  always  been  associated  with  this  strip  of  Yellow 
Cosmos.  Where  there  is  the  yellow  man,  there  is  the 
Yellow  Danger — according  to  the  learned  Asiatic  students 
of  the  Sorbonne.     And  Japan  is  always  the  bugbear. 

It  was  said  that  the  victors  of  the  Russians  were  only 
waiting  their  time  to  seize  the  territories  of  Indo-China, 
after  having  annexed  the  kingdom  of  Mahu  Vagiranudh, 
where,  indeed,  their  influence  is  powerful  and,  probably, 
paramount  to-day.  For  long,  I  say,  the  French  were 
haunted  with  this  idea  of  Japanese  absorption.  It  only 
ceased,  or  became  sensibly  less  on  the  day  that  France 
signed  a  convention  with  the  extraordinary  little  people, 
who  have  astonished  Europe  with  their  military  prowess 
and  assimilative  energy.  Nor  had  the  French  any  par- 
ticular reason  for  thinking  the  Siamese  loved  them.  The 
bombardment  of  Bangkok  is  remembered  against  them, 
and,  for  many  a  year,  the  brusque  methods  of  French 
sailors,  whilst  a  tribute  to  Occidental  determination,  did 
not  recommend  themselves  to  these  gentle,  scheming,  dark- 
skinned  people.  That  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  French 
are  scarcely  loved  in  the  peninsula  that  stretches  into  the 
China  Sea.  Another  is  the  oppression  of  the  officials  and 
the  horrid  incubus  of  taxation.  Taxes  have  increased  woe- 
fully, and  every  financial  reform  has  cast  more  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  native,  in  some  form  of  impost,  direct  or 
/ndirect,  giving  a  corresponding  relief  to  the  home  tax- 
payer. The  latter,  poor  man,  finds  the  advantage  more 
apparent  than  real,  for  he  is  saddled  with  the  expensive 


THE   ROMANCE   OF   COLONIAL   EMPIRE        203 

luxury  of  social  legislation  and  experiments  in  national- 
ization with  an  army  of  salaried  deputies,  and  deputies' 
favourites — likewise  salaried.  Politics  is  the  chief  French 
industry  in  some  French  colonies,  and,  however  barren  the 
soil  and  microscopical  the  commerce,  ambition  flourishes. 

Part  of  the  Yellow  Danger,  momentarily  allayed  by  an 
understanding  with  the  Land  of  the  Chrysanthemum,  resides 
in  the  fear  that  China  may  some  day  awake,  and,  in  throw- 
ing off  the  lethargy  of  centuries,  revert  to  her  old  power 
and  influence.  Symptoms  of  a  military  activity  in  the 
Southern  Provinces  of  the  Celestial  Empire  disquiet  French 
administrators.  On  the  day  when  the  Dragon  issues  from 
its  Cave  of  Slumber,  there  will  be  trepidation  in  this  far-off 
possession  of  France.  These  are  problems  enough  to  make 
the  annual  reports  of  Parliamentary  Committees  interesting 
reading. 

France  still  maintains  her  penal  settlements  abroad. 
Cayenne  has  an  unenviable  reputation  on  this  account.  On 
Devil's  Island,  Dreyfus  was  shut  up  in  his  terrible  cage.  And 
New  Caledonia  serves  an  equally  lugubrious  purpose  in  re- 
moving, for  more  or  less  long  periods,  from  their  native  soil 
the  desperadoes  of  Paris  and  the  Provinces.  Some  part  of 
the  criminal  activity  of  her  great  towns  France  employs, 
wisely,  in  fighting  her  country's  battles.  The  energy  of  the 
bad  man,  if  directed  into  wise  paths,  becomes  a  source  of 
national  force  and  aggrandizement.  The  Apache,  who  sins, 
perhaps,  because  life  in  its  ordinary  aspect  is  too  dull  for 
him,  can,  under  discipline,  become  a  worthy  son  of  La  Patrie. 
"  Les  Bat'  d' Af,"  as  they  are  called — the  special  disciplinary 
companies  in  Northern  Africa — have  performed  many  a 
gallant  service  for  the  Colonial  Empire  and  added  gems  to 
the  Imperial  crown.  In  Guyana  and  New  Caledonia,  how- 
ever, the  evil  spirits  of  the  convicts  are  not  let  off  in  road- 
making  or  in  brushes  with  marauders,  but  are  turned  to  the 


204  FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

commonplace  and  monotonous  round  of  a  Penal  Settlement. 
Yet,  romance  comes,  sometimes,  to  break  the  dull  level  of 
existence.  A  convict  escapes  and,  'midst  hair-breadth  perils, 
obtains  his  liberty  in  the  adjacent  English  or  Dutch  settle- 
ments. 

St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon  are  all  that  remain  of  the  old 
French  dominance  in  Canada.  The  sturdy  sea-farers  of 
these  islands  find  a  precarious  existence  still  more  precarious 
since  France  has  sacrificed  her  fishing  rights  on  the  French 
shore  of  Newfoundland  on  the  altar  of  the  Entente  Cordiale. 
Bretons  by  origin,  the  inhabitants  of  these  islands  take  to 
the  water  as  the  duck ;  but,  life  is  hard  on  their  islands  and 
the  attraction  of  Canada,  with  its  boundless  resources,  too 
great  to  be  resisted.  Hence,  the  future  of  the  islands  gives 
some  anxiety  to  those  concerned  in  the  growth  of  Greater 
France.  La  Reunion,  Martinique  and  Guadeloupe  have, 
also,  their  place  on  the  map  of  French  political  influence. 
La  Martinique,  unfortunately,  has  suffered  grievously 
by  reason  of  seismic  convulsion  and  the  last  eruption 
of  Mont  Pdle  smothered  by  its  sulphurous  fumes  many 
thousands  of  inhabitants.  Nor  did  the  funds  collected  for 
the  sufferers  answer  to  the  full  their  avowed  purpose.  If  the 
first  relief  was  organized  promptly  and  effectively,  the  more 
substantial  dole  that  followed  seems  to  have  gone  into  the 
wrong  pockets,  and  to  have  fed  official  rapacity  rather  than 
a  famished  population.  In  these  respects,  the  Colonies  do 
not  provide  the  only  examples  of  misdirection  of  supplies. 
Even  in  the  distribution  of  funds  for  the  victims  of  the  Seine 
Floods,  the  suggestion  has  been  made — with  some  show  of 
truth — that  the  money  fell,  chiefly,  to  political  supporters  of 
the  Government  and  left  little  to  necessitous  opponents. 
Allegations  of  the  sort  are  the  inevitable  consequence  of  a 
democracy,  which  must  broad-base  itself  on  material  in- 
terests and  pay  its  followers  in  a  coin  they  understand. 


THE   ROMANCE   OF   COLONIAL   EMPIRE        205 

Every  functionary  is  by  the  nature  of  his  employment  and 
the  circumstances  of  his  office  a  supporter  of  the  regime, 
though  even  he,  as  we  saw  in  the  memorable  Postal  Strike 
in  Paris  in  the  winter  of  1908,  may  be  temporarily  seduced 
from  his  allegiance  by  a  Socialist  and  Revolutionary  pro- 
paganda. 

The  French  language  persists  in  Lower  Canada  in  a 
manner  that  surprises  an  Englishman,  who  visits  the 
Dominion  for  the  first  time.  I  confess  to  being  astonished 
at  hearing  the  "  Petite  Tonkinoise  "  whistled  and  sung  by 
a  youth  in  one  of  the  smaller  wooden  townships  on  the 
Saguenay  River,  part  of  the  picturesque  Hinterland  of  the 
great  Hudson  Bay  Territory.  Yet,  it  would  be  a  mistake 
to  suppose,  as  some  Parisian  papers  are  fond  of  doing,  that 
the  French  Canadian  looks  to  France  as  his  Fatherland  or 
to  the  Third  Republic  as  representing  his  ideal  of  govern- 
ment. Nothing  of  the  sort.  To  him,  the  administration  that 
broke  up  the  brotherhoods  and  nunneries  of  the  Roman 
Church  is  detestably  atheistical.  On  Fete  days,  in  Canada, 
there  is  practically  no  sign  of  the  Tricolor ;  when  he  flies 
the  French  Flag  at  all,  the  Canadian  insists  that  it  shall  be 
white  :  symbol  of  Monarchical  and  Clerical  France.  And 
his  language,  as  we  know,  is  the  French  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Century,  of  the  Roi  Soleil :  an  arsenal  of  old  ex- 
pressions, which  provoke  the  smile  of  the  Boulevardier, 
when  he  encounters  them  for  the  first  time.  Yet,  if  there 
is  very  little  sympathy  expressed  by  the  Catholic  Canadian 
for  the  Republic,  there  is  a  sufficiently  close  connection 
and  a  sentimental  wish,  at  least  in  Paris,  to  draw  near  to 
opinion  in  Quebec  and  Montreal,  if  not  to  get  solid  advan- 
tages from  Ottawa  by  reason  of  the  linguistic  and  racial 
connection.  Canada's  first  treaty,  as  a  sovereign  nation, 
was  made  with  France  and  has  sent  more  goods  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  as  well  as  more  Canadian  produce  to  Brest  and 


2o6  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

Havre.  It  is  rather  in  the  development  of  commercial  re- 
lations that  the  association  of  France  with  Canada  in  the 
future  lies.  The  French  are  the  first  to  realize  that  the 
conservatism  of  the  Lower  Province  of  Quebec,  which 
maintains  the  old  French  language,  laws  and  customs,  is 
out  of  spirit  with  the  modern  requirements  of  a  growing 
Empire.  Hence,  as  Canada  becomes  greater  and  her  farm- 
ing lands  are  taken  up  by  the  English-speaking  races,  she 
becomes  less  under  the  influence  of  the  old  Clerical  domi- 
nance, which  still  persists,  to  an  amazing  extent,  in  that 
picturesque  citadel  named  "the  Gibraltar  of  the  New 
World."  The  glowing  pages  of  Sir  Gilbert  Parker's 
"  Seats  of  the  Mighty "  recall  the  day  when  French  and 
English  struggled  for  the  mastery  and  when,  on  the  Heights 
of  Abraham — recently  the  scene  of  the  gorgeous  pageant 
commemorating  the  discovery  of  the  St.  Lawrence  by 
Sebastian  Cabot — Wolfe  met  Montcalm  and  found,  on  the 
summit  of  the  craggy  cliffs,  that  path  of  glory  which  led  to 
his  own  grave,  whilst  establishing,  for  ever,  the  pre-emi- 
nence of  his  countrymen  in  Northern  America. 

The  loss  of  Canada  was  a  bitter  pill  to  the  French,  not- 
withstanding the  famous  allusion  to  "  quelques  arpents  de 
neige."  Louisiana  became  French,  precisely  owing  to  the 
French  occupation  of  Canada.  Southwards  a  missionary 
travelled  and  planted  the  flag  of  the  Fourteenth  Louis  on 
the  shores  of  the  Mississippi.  Here,  again,  the  watchful 
English  came  into  conflict  with  their  old  rivals,  and  battles 
were  waged  and  forts  were  raised  to  protect  the  route  to 
the  new  territory.  Fort  Duquesne  marks  the  site  of  a 
battle  and  establishes  the  memory  of  a  man  who  did  what 
he  could  to  assert  the  French  right  to  be  where  they  were. 

Her  extraordinarily  agitated  history  during  the  first  sixty 
years  of  the  last  century,  caused  France  to  relax  her  hold 
upon   Louisiana.      But  the  territory  was  recovered  from 


THE   ROMANCE   OF  COLONIAL   EMPIRE        207 

Spain  and,  finally,  sold  to  the  United  States.  Traces  of 
the  old  French  culture  and  language  still  persist,  and  New 
Orleans  is  a  quaint  survival  of  a  French  town,  planted  in 
the  midst  of  a  bustling  American  people. 

The  conflict  with  Germany,  forty  years  ago,  caused  a 
loosening  of  the  bonds  of  Empire  in  Algeria  and  awoke 
the  spirit  of  Mussulman  revolt,  which  was  quenched  by 
French  energy.  Elsewhere  on  the  globe,  French  aspira- 
tions towards  Colonial  grandeur  have  been  thwarted  or 
minimized  by  her  own  internal  difficulties.  Sometimes,  the 
native  agitator  has  profited  by  the  circumstance  to  raise 
a  rebellion;  sometimes,  as  at  the  end  of  the  Napoleonic 
wars,  the  enemies  and  victors  of  France  ip  Europe  have 
dictated  terms  of  peace,  which  have  left  her  practically 
nothing,  but  the  memory  of  her  former  possessions.  It 
speaks  well  for  the  resilience  and  the  recuperative  powers 
of  this  country  that,  in  less  than  a  hundred  years,  she 
should  have  again  acquired,  at  the  cost  of  vast  effort  and 
no  little  monetary  expenditure,  such  desirable  portions  of 
the  earth  as  are  represented  in  her  African  colonies,  in 
Madagascar,  and  in  Indo-China. 

The  growth  and  prosperity  of  her  West  African  posses- 
sions— Senegal,  Guinea,  Dahomey  and  the  Ivory  Coast — 
are  most  significant  and  lend  justification  to  the  remark  of 
M.  Etienne  to  the  writer  that  even  England  could  learn 
something  from  their  administration.  Central  Africa  will 
be  knit  more  closely  to  the  capital  by  reason  of  the  employ- 
ment of  the  black  in  garrisoning  Algeria  and  Tunis.  France 
has  rapidly  acquired  knowledge  of  the  colonial  "  metier," 
and  her  Empire  to-day  is  eloquent  of  the  devotion  of  her 
sons,  just  as  it  bears  witness  to  a  new  and  gratifying  con- 
tinuity of  policy  on  lines  laid  down  by  M.  Hanotaux  and 
other  Ministers. 


H 


CHAPTER  XIII 

FRENCH    HISTORY   IN   GOTHIC 

ISTORY  of  no  common  sort  is  associated  with 
French  Gothic.  It  is  enshrined,  particularly,  in 
the  three  glorious  cathedrals  of  Notre  Dame 
de  Paris,  of  Chartres,  and  of  Rheims.  Art  and  life  are 
inextricably  bound.  Who  can  look  upon  the  splendid 
cathedral  of  Paris  without  thinking  of  its  past,  which  in- 
cluded the  self-crowning  of  an  Emperor  and  the  enthroning 
of  a  goddess  of  reason ;  upon  Chartres,  with  its  brilliant  and 
unexpected  episode  in  the  "  conversion  "  of  the  Huguenotic 
king ;  upon  Rheims,  with  its  Sainted  Maid  unfurling  her 
oriflamme  of  victory,  and  the  long  glittering  line  of  kings 
extending  from  Philip  Augustus  in  1180  to  Charles  X  in 
1824? 

The  old  province  of  the  He  de  France,  which  encloses 
Paris,  is  not  only  the  cradle  of  French  civilization  and 
where  its  greatest  drama  has  been  played,  but  contains  an 
astonishing  galaxy  of  churches.  What  Athens  was  to 
Greek  art,  Constantinople  to  Byzantine,  and  Florence  to 
Renaissance,  this  district  of  France  is  to  Gothic  archi- 
tecture. Within  a  short  distance  of  each  other — in  the 
He  de  France,  in  La  Beauce,  Normandy,  and  the  Orlean- 
nais — are  to  be  found  cathedrals  ot  surpassing  splendour. 
Beautiful  as  the  Romanesque  churches  are  in  the  South, 
none  is  equal  to  the  series  of  the  North :  Amiens,  Rouen, 
Chartres,  Beauvais,  Rheims,  and  Paris.     Here  is  reached 

208 


•   *  »  '»  *  *  * 


JOAN   OF   ARC   AT   THE   CROWNING   OF   CHARLES   VII  AT   RHEIMS 

FROM    THE    FRESCO    BY    LENEFVEU    IN    THE    PAxNTHEON,    PARIS 


FRENCH   HISTORY   IN   GOTHIC  209 

the  culminating  point  in  art  and  science,  which  dis- 
tinguishes the  Gothic  architecture  from  any  other.  Else- 
where, Byzantine  or  Grecian  influences  prevail.  Brittany 
is  as  Provincial  as  Cornwall ;  Auvergne  and  Provence 
adhere  to  the  classical.  This  is  less  the  case  in  Anjou 
and  still  less  in  Normandy ;  but,  within  a  certain  radius  of 
Paris,  are  to  be  found  the  choicest  treasures  of  the  Gothic 
builder  of  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  centuries. 
The  origin  of  Gothic  is  a  large  question,  which  I  do  not 
propose  to  discuss  to  any  extent.  But  whether  it  sprang 
from  the  East  or  from  the  debris  of  Roman  construction, 
whether  it  was  Persian  or  Egyptian  in  its  earliest  mani- 
festations, or  due  to  a  French  king's  wanderings  in  Italy, 
in  France,  at  all  events,  it  reached  its  highest  develop- 
ment, its  most  superb  expression. 

It  seems  apparent  that  England  received  the  Gothic  by 
way  of  Normandy,  but  the  manner  of  its  development, 
whether  it  was  independent  and  insular,  or,  largely.  Con- 
tinental, is,  again,  subject  to  controversy.  One  authority 
tells  us  that  no  English  work  led  up  to  Westminster 
Abbey,  just  as  nothing  in  Germany  foreshadowed  Cologne 
Cathedral ;  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  those  who  insist 
that  English  Gothic  antedated  the  French,  in  its  leading 
features,  by  fifty  years.  However  that  may  be,  the  two 
countries  display  differing  characteristics  in  their  archi- 
tecture: the  French  clinging  to  the  apse  or  "  chevet,"  which  is 
one  of  their  glories,  the  English  preferring  the  square  end 
to  the  chancel.  Another  difference  is  found  in  the  ten- 
dency of  the  English  builder  to  build  low  and  of  the 
French  to  build  high.  The  height  of  the  French  nave  is 
extraordinary,  and  occasionally  overleaped  itself,  as  at 
Beauvais,  where  the  roof  collapsed  twelve  years  after  con- 
struction. In  England,  the  architect  had  more  sober  ideas, 
and  was  always  restrained  by  a  nice  realization  of  the 
14 


2IO  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

effects  of  thrust  and  strain.  If  the  manifestations  of  the 
Gothic  were  never  as  brilliant  as  in  France,  their  quench- 
ing was  less  complete.  The  fire  continued  to  smoulder  for 
a  long  time,  whilst,  in  France,  we  find  only  cold  ashes. 
"  In  England,  Gothic  art,"  said  Mr.  Edward  Prior,  "  never 
grew  to  be  a  mere  mechanism  of  construction.  It  always 
retained  a  soul,  a  humour  that  was  hearty  in  its  devotion, 
though  finally,  it  became  Bourgeois  in  its  expression."  It 
was  the  logic  of  the  Parisians  that  brought  to  the  Gothic 
both  its  extreme  excellence  and  its  decay.  The  roof,  the 
keynote  of  the  Gothic,  soared  and  soared  until  it  fell. 

With  this  "vaulting  ambition"  was  joined  "a  growing 
complexity  of  poise  and  counterpoise  and  thrust  and 
strain.  Material  mass  seemed  to  disappear.  Cathedrals 
were  chainworks  of  articulated  stone  nailed  to  the  ground 
by  pinnacles."  French  art  went  mad,  but  the  cooler 
Briton  kept  his  head. 

French  architects  aimed  at  greater  height  and  greater 
size,  but  there  was  not  the  same  effect  of  length  as  in  the 
English  cathedrals.  The  roof  of  the  nave  was  so  lofty 
that  it  was  not  possible  to  build  a  steeple  which  should 
have  the  effect  that  steeples  have  in  England.  "  English 
cathedrals  more  resemble  a  sailing-ship,"  says  Mr.  O.  E. 
Bodington  (who  has  a  knowledge  of  cathedral  architecture 
possessed  by  few  amateurs),  "  with  clusters  of  slender 
towers  like  masts,  and  low-pitched  naves,  not  usually  more 
than  one  hundred  feet  high,  from  which  the  numerous 
towers  stand  out  markedly.  These  towers  are  about 
twice  the  height  of  the  nave.  The  average  pitch  of  the 
nave  in  French  cathedrals  is  two  hundred  feet;  hence,  the 
towers,  which  are  not  much  higher  than  English  towers, 
look  as  stubbly  as  the  funnel  of  a  warship."  This  is 
particularly  the  case  at  Amiens,  where  the  turret  is  nearly 
as  high  as  Salisbury's  spire,  but  has  a  squat  appearance, 


FRENCH   HISTORY   IN   GOTHIC  211 

for  the  reasons  just  stated.  The  word  "  nave  "  is  derived 
from  "nef,"  "navis,"  a  vessel.  From  this  analogy,  one 
might  say  that  French-Gothic  cathedrals  are  the  Dread- 
noughts of  Church  architecture. 

Though  more  majestic  in  their  proportions,  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  these  French  cathedrals  were  as  complete  in  all 
their  parts  as  the  English.  Yet  it  is  difficult  to  overpraise, 
them.  Exquisite  art  and  skill  were  lavished  on  the 
ground  plan  ;  boldness  and  lightness  of  touch  were  com- 
bined in  the  construction,  and  vigorous  is  the  beauty  of 
the  sculpture — features  which  distinguish  these  glorious 
specimens  of  the  French-Gothic  from  any  other  churches 
in  the  world.  The  style  is  singularly  adapted,  by  its 
solemnity  and  simplicity,  to  temples  of  the  Christian  God. 
In  contemplating  these  gorgeous  fanes,  one  is  reminded 
that  the  impenetrable  recesses  of  the  forest  where  were 
celebrated  the  sacred  rites  and  mysteries  of  the  Druids, 
were  Nature's  first  cathedrals.  The  Gothic  seems  to  have 
founded  itself  upon  Nature's  most  beautiful  and  impressive 
scene  :  the  overarching  branches  of  lofty  trees. 

Flamboyancy  was  the  undoing  of  the  fourteenth-cen- 
tury architect.  The  Golden  Age  of  architecture  had 
passed,  and,  in  its  place,  was  a  gay  and  meretricious  thing 
depending  upon  ornament  for  its  chief  effect,  and  dis- 
regarding the  sincerity  and  devotion  which  earlier  architects 
had  brought  to  bear  upon  their  work.  Church-building 
and  decoration  became  a  matter  of  adroitness  and  skill 
rather  than  of  religious  and  artistic  conviction,  and  the 
French,  having  distinguished  themselves  more  vividly  in  the 
one  direction,  fell  more  deeply  into  the  opposite  extreme. 
Strange  to  say,  architects  and  artisans  performed  better 
work  when  their  efforts  were  anonymous  ;  directly  their 
names  became  known,  their  labour  seems  to  show  a  want  of 
the  highest  feeling,  a  falling  off"  from  the  highest  attainment. 


212  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

Chartres,  masculine,  sturdy  and  grandiose,  is  in  many 
respects  the  most  splendid  of  the  group  which  includes 
Amiens,  Bourges,  Rheims,  Laon,  Caen,  Troyes,  Le  Mans, 
and  a  number  of  others,  which  are  only  slightly  inferior. 
It  stands  in  the  great  plain  of  La  Beauce,  a  plain  which 
waves  with  corn  in  the  harvest  months.  "  Le  ble,  c'est  la 
Beauce  et  la  Beauce  c'est  Chartres,"  This  communion 
between  the  great  cathedral  and  the  swimming  wheat-fields 
is  seen  in  one  of  the  painted  windows  in  the  clerestory  of 
the  nave,  dedicated  to  the  tilling  of  the  soil.  Like  a  lion 
couchant,  this  colossal  fabric  dominates  the  landscape,  as 
one  arrives  by  the  road  from  Dreux. 

Chartres  is  in  every  sense  the  type  of  Gothic  cathedral. 
It  is  a  church  to  pray  in,  it  has  been  declared.  Nowhere 
is  such  comfort  to  be  attained  by  the  spiritually-minded, 
nowhere  are  orisons  more  fervent.  Sombre  and  mysterious, 
seeming  to  enclose  the  deeper  sides  of  life,  it  mingles,  as 
Mr.  Cecil  Headlam  says,  "  pagan-Stoic  with  the  comforting 
tidings  of  the  Christian  saints  and  martyrs,  combining, 
that  is,  the  Romanesque  and  Gothic  styles :  the  rounded 
and  the  pointed  arch,  taking  the  best  of  them  and  uniting 
them  in  a  transition."  Everywhere,  indeed,  in  this  won- 
derful building,  are  signs  of  the  Transition.  You  can  see 
the  Gothic  emerging  from  the  Romanesque.  The  mason 
is  here  experimenting,  developing  fresh  ideas,  tending 
towards  spring  and  lightness.  And  he  leaves  the  old, 
horizontal  lines  and  strives  to  attain  airiness  and  grace. 
He  has  not  yet  sufficient  confidence  in  his  rib-vaulting — as 
counteracting  the  outward  thrust  of  the  massive  Roman- 
esque roof — and  so  he  employs  flying  buttresses,  which 
are  heavy  affairs  with  only  slight  decoration.  For  the 
same  reason,  figures  of  the  saints  are  slight  and  shallow. 
Yet,  there  are  many  evidences  of  the  elegance  of  Early 
Gothic  decoration,  wherever  it  does  not  interfere  with  the 


FRENCH   HISTORY   IN   GOTHIC  213 

supposed  architectural  necessities.  Elsewhere,  the  Tran- 
sitional artist  is  a  daring  soul,  almost  impudent  in  his 
flights  towards  Heaven ;  but  here,  at  Chartres,  he  is  re- 
strained by  feelings  of  structural  expediency.  He  knows 
he  has  to  deal  with  solid  mass,  rigid  and  unpliable,  whereas 
sometimes,  as  at  Amiens,  he  seems  to  treat  stone  as 
steel ;  the  result  is  a  marvellous  union  of  fancy  with 
achievement.  Mr.  Headlam,  in  a  happy  comparison 
between  Chartres  and  Amiens,  says  :  "  Amiens  is  light  and 
joyous,  Chartres  is  mysterious  and  sad.  Amiens  rises  as 
naturally  as  sparks  fly  upward,  as  thoroughly  as  the  flute- 
like notes  of  a  treble  voice,  as  careless  as  a  child's  light 
laughter." 

The  whole  of  medieval  theology  finds  its  symbolism  in 
the  cathedral,  in  its  wonderful  carving,  in  its  still  more 
wondrous  stained  glass.  If  we  are  conscious  of  the  mystery 
and  suggestiveness  of  Chartres,  we  do  not  necessarily  find 
Notre  Dame  de  Paris  "  a  corpse  of  stone,"  though  we  feel 
as  Huysmans  did,  the  absence  of  religious  sentiment  at 
Amiens,  "  with  its  colourless  windows,  letting  in  the  crude 
daylight,  and  its  fenced  side-chapels,  little  conducive  to 
prayer  and  meditation."  Yet  our  sensitiveness  is  not,  per- 
haps, shocked  by  the  deadness  of  Laon.  Assuredly,  at 
Chartres,  however,  there  broods  the  spirit  of  peace  and 
piety  as  nowhere  else  in  the  cathedral  land  of  France. 

The  jewelled  windows  of  Canterbury  and  Lincoln,  Salis- 
bury and  York  dazzle  with  beauty,  but  here,  at  Chartres, 
as  indeed  at  Rheims,  Le  Mans  and  Bourges,  the  effect  is 
finer  because  of  the  greater  quantity  of  glass.  The  larger 
proportion  of  the  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  lights  are 
thirteenth-century  in  their  origin ;  the  three  Western  win- 
dows are  even  earlier.  Many  will  think  the  exterior, 
grandiose  as  it  is  with  its  immense  steeple  and  richly  carved 
portals,  inferior  in  absolute  beauty  to  the  sublime  interior, 


214  FRANCE  AND  THE   FRENCH 

with  its  arches  and  columns,  impeccable  in  their  noble 
simplicity ! 

Chords  have  been  struck  and  have  died  away  at  Chartres ; 
but  through  the  flash  of  centuries,  the  cathedral  has  re- 
mained, mystic  symbol  of  the  undying  faith,  a  focus  of 
religion,  a  shrine  for  pilgrimage.  Henry  V  of  England, 
recognized  as  Regent  and  Heir  to  the  throne  of  France, 
paid  homage,  as  pilgrim,  to  the  sanctity  of  the  fane,  and 
his  soldiery  gave  rich  gifts.  It  was  only  under  Charles  VH I 
that  Chartres  was  won — by  strategy — from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon. 

The  oldest  part  of  the  church,  as  well  as  the  most  im- 
pressive, is  the  crypt.  When  the  church  above  was  burnt 
in  the  eleventh  century,  the  crypt  remained  intact,  shelter- 
ing in  its  ghostly  shadow  the  Black  Madonna,  Notre  Dame 
de  Sous  Terre.  And  when  the  glorious  superstructure  rose 
again,  peasants  and  pilgrims  harnessed  themselves  to  the 
work,  dragging  pieces  of  timber  and  yoking  themselves  to 
carts.  Part  of  the  simplicity  and  dignity  of  the  towers,  one 
of  which  is  quite  late  in  construction,  having  been  rebuilt  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  is  due  to  the  employment  of  huge 
blocks  of  stone,  quite  contrary  to  Gothic  precedent. 

The  cathedral  is  dedicated  to  the  Virgin,  and  tradition 
says  it  was  built  above  a  grotto  where,  in  old  times,  the 
Druids  worshipped  a  Maiden  who  should  bear  a  son. 
"  Virgini  pariturae"  was  the  dedication  of  the  wooden  statue 
in  the  mysterious  sanctuary  hidden  in  the  depths  of  the 
forest.  These  rites  and  ceremonies  are  strangely  prophetic 
of  the  destinies  of  the  great  cathedral  that  was  to  be. 
White-robed  processions  of  priests  wound  their  way  through 
the  trees  to  the  sacred  grove  where  stood  the  statue  of  the 
Virgin.  One  carried  bread,  another  a  vase  of  water,  a  third 
an  ivory  hand,  emblematical  of  Justice.  And  when  they 
came  to  the  sacred  oak,  whereon  grew  the  mistletoe — sign 


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FRENCH   HISTORY   IN   GOTHIC  215 

of  Divine  favour — the  High  Priest  advanced  and,  with  his 
golden  hook,  struck  off  the  plant,  which  was  caught  in  a 
white  mantle.  Then  victims  were  slain  and  gifts  distributed. 
There  is  a  story  that  King  Prius,  fifty  years  before  the 
coming  of  the  Romans,  carried  the  body  of  his  dead  son  on 
horseback,  and  laid  it  before  the  statue.  Miraculously  the 
lad  came  to  life. 

The  two  great  spires  outstand,  as  I  have  said,  in  a  coun- 
try that  is  singularly  flat  and  uninteresting,  which  affects 
one,  as  an  ocean  does,  with  moods  of  melancholy.  Of  the 
two  Madonnas  which  give  special  sanctity  to  the  place,  one, 
Our  Lady  of  the  Pillar,  is  set  up  in  the  nave,  and  the  other, 
Our  Lady  of  the  Crypt,  presides  over  the  dim,  vast,  sub- 
terranean chapel  which  is,  to-day,  the  most  famous  and 
frequented  shrine  in  the  world.  Sisters  of  Mercy,  in  their 
religious  garb,  peasant  women,  their  seamed  faces  crowned 
with  white  caps,  little  children,  hushing  their  laughter  for  a 
while,  as  they  feel  the  influence  of  the  "  milieu,"  gather  in 
the  recesses  of  the  cathedral  and  pay  veneration  to  the  two 
statues  of  the  Sovereign  Lady. 

Chartres  exhales  history  from  every  pore.  Here  was 
crowned  Henri  Quatre, the  HuguenoticKing,  after  he  had  re- 
nounced his  Calvinistic  "  errors."  The  Sacred  Oil  of  Rheims 
was  not  available  for  the  ceremony  for  the  good  reason  that 
the  city  of  Champagne  was  in  the  hands  of  the  English. 
The  Catholic  Church,  however,  was  equal  to  the  difficulty. 
There  was  another  precious  phial  in  possession  of  the 
monks  of  Marmoutiers,  and  Henri  arranged  that  it  should 
be  brought,  under  strong  escort,  to  Chartres,  where  it  was 
met  by  the  King's  deputy,  the  Bishop  of  Angers,  and  a 
numerous  suite  of  gentlemen-at-arms. 

Henri  de  Navarre's  conversion  was  an  act  of  high  political 
wisdom.  The  country  was  rent  in  twain  by  internal 
quarrels,  and  Henri,  in  adopting  the  religion  of  the  majority 


2i6  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

of  his  subjects,  put  an  end  to  civil  war  and  established 
himself  King  of  France,  in  reality  as  well  as  in  name. 
When,  after  a  stubborn  siege,  the  victorious  King  entered 
the  town,  under  a  magnificent  canopy  of  blue  velvet,  fringed 
with  gold  and  silver  and  supported  by  four  aldermen,  he 
was  awaited  at  the  western  porch  of  the  Cathedral  by  the 
Bishop  and  his  clergy,  who  were  eager  to  present  an  address 
of  loyalty.  The  King,  however,  rode  on,  disregarding  their 
presence.  But  the  prelate,  with  his  surpliced  priests,  cut 
through  the  Cathedral  and  reappeared  at  the  north  door, 
intercepting  the  Sovereign,  who  now  listened,  good- 
naturedly,  to  episcopal  oratory. 

The  pealing  of  bells  and  the  blaring  of  trumpets,  re- 
sounding through  streets  hung  with  tapestry,  welcomed 
the  procession  of  monks  carrying  the  sacred  phial.  Lords 
spiritual  and  temporal,  officers  and  magistrates,  filled  the 
body  of  the  fane,  which  the  King  entered  in  a  camisole 
of  crimson  satin  drawn  over  a  long  robe  of  silver  cloth. 
Accompanying  him  to  the  Cathedral  was  a  splendid 
escort,  composed  of  two  bishops  and  the  parochial  clergy, 
Archers  of  the  Grand  Provost,  Swiss  and  Scots  Guards, 
Heralds,  Knights  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  Marechal  de 
Matignon,  Constable  of  France,  bearing  his  sword  of  office. 
The  King  was  anointed  by  the  Bishop  of  Chartres,  who 
gave  him  the  Kiss  of  Peace.  Then,  with  one  accord,  the 
congregation  shouted  :  "  Vive  le  Roi."  Immediately  there 
arose,  echoing  beneath  the  vaulted  roof,  sounds  of  trumpets, 
of  clarinet  and  hautbois,  and  the  rolling  of  drums. 

Impressiveness  is  the  dominant  note  of  Chartres ;  no 
other  cathedral  possesses  it  to  a  like  degree.  This  sense 
of  dignity  springs  from  the  splendour  of  its  lines,  as  well 
as  the  massiveness  and  character  of  construction.  The 
miraculous  images  of  the  Virgin  appeal  with  tremendous 
power  to  the  Faithful,  not  lessened  by  the  fact  that  in  the 


FRENCH   HISTORY   IN   GOTHIC  217 

Treasury  reposes  a  tunic  said  to  have  belonged  to  the 
Mother  of  Jesus.  And  the  windows  are  glorious  as  no 
others.  Man's  genius  collected  the  concentrated  rays  of 
light,  condensed  them  into  rose  windows,  and  then,  as  we 
are  told,  poured  them  into  his  avenues  of  white  shafts. 
Huysmans,  in  his  poetic  description  of  the  interior,  says : 
"  Even  in  the  darkest  weather,  the  glass  is  splendid,  catch- 
ing the  least  rays  of  sunset,  dressing  Christ  and  the  Virgin 
in  the  most  fabulous  magnificence,  and  almost  realizing  on 
earth  the  only  attire  that  seems  to  befit  the  glorified  body  : 
a  robe  of  flame." 

In  matter  of  history,  Rheims  no  doubt  takes  precedence 
of  Chartres.  Here  have  been  crowned  the  Kings  of  France 
since  the  days  of  Louis  le  Debonnaire.  None  has  failed 
to  receive  his  consecration  here,  save  Hugh  Capet,  who 
was  crowned  at  Noyon,  Henri  Quatre  at  Chartres,  and 
Napoleon  in  Paris:  Louis  XVIII,  Louis-Philippe  and  the 
Third  Napoleon  were  not  crowned  at  all. 

The  most  brilliant  memory  of  Rheims  is  the  coronation  of 
Charles  VII,  brought  about  by  the  Maid  of  Orleans.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  touching  scenes  on  record.  Before  the 
High  Altar  and  near  the  King,  La  Pucelle  stood,  banner 
in  hand,  watching  the  ceremony,  which  represented  the 
fulfilment  of  her  dreams.  Then,  kneeling  before  the  gentle 
monarch,  she  asked,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  to  be  allowed 
to  return  to  her  flocks,  her  mission  being  accomplished. 
The  presence  of  the  Sacred  Ampulla  in  the  Treasury  of 
the  church  had  much  to  do  with  the  selection  of  Rheims 
as  the  place  of  coronation.  The  special  sanctity  of  the 
Ampulla  was  derived  from  Heaven  itself  When  Saint 
Remy  was  baptizing  Clovis,  the  Frankish  conqueror,  one 
Christmas  day,  in  sign  of  his  adoption  of  the  Christian 
Faith,  there  appeared  a  dove  bearing  in  its  mouth  the  Holy 
Phial.     That  is  the  story.     The  relic  was  broken  to  pieces 


2i8  FRANCE  AND  THE   FRENCH 

in  the  Revolution  of  1789,  when  much  other  damage  was 
done  in  the  church,  but  it  reappeared,  either  miraculously 
or  by  human  hands^ust  as  one  regards  it — in  time  for 
the  coronation  of  Charles  X,  the  last  of  the  Kings  of 
France  to  receive  anointment  there. 

Rheims  has  the  masculine  touch  proper  to  the  crowning 
place  of  kings.  There  is  a  bold  profusion  of  deep,  mas- 
sive decoration ;  statues,  single  or  in  groups,  of  Apostles 
and  Kings,  mingle  with  the  figures  of  beasts.  The  only 
feminine  touch  is  a  fourteenth-century  Virgin,  cut  into 
the  "  trumeau  "  of  the  main  door.  It  is  a  youthful  Virgin, 
almost  girlish  in  her  appearance,  and  she  is  smiling  with 
a  broad  humanity  at  her  Babe.  This  is  part  of  the  de- 
coration of  that  wonderful  western  fagade  that  Ferguson 
pronounced  the  most  beautiful  piece  of  work  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  The  exquisite  portals  are  like  illustrated  editions 
of  the  Bible,  and  of  the  secular  history  of  France.  The 
Beau  Dieu  or  Christ,  in  the  attitude  of  Benediction,  is  a 
wondrous  piece  of  carving. 

Had  the  original  architects  had  their  way,  seven  towers 
and  spires  would  have  dominated  the  roof;  but  such 
features  are  not  necessary  to  stimulate  our  admiration  of 
this  stupendous  edifice,  representing  the  grandest  period 
of  the  Gothic.  The  Revolution,  doubtless,  has  robbed  us  of 
much  that  was  architecturally  fine  in  France,  but  we  grudge 
here,  more  than  anywhere,  the  stained-glass  windows  which 
should  have  illuminated  the  aisles.  Instead,  the  daylight  • 
comes  crudely  through  without  any  softening  medium. 
And  yet  the  Iconoclasts  have  spared  the  glorious  rose 
window  and  the  radiant  luminosity  of  the  clerestory.  Cer- 
tainly, the  grandeur  and  grace  of  the  monument  are  best 
seen  in  the  west  front,  with  its  majestic  portals  deeply 
cut,  with  its  surmounting  rose  window,  and  the  richly 
bedizened  gallery  connecting  tower  with  tower,  that,  with 


•     »  J  J  •  •» 


RHKl.MS   CATHKDRAL:    WEST    IRUNT 


FRENCH    HISTORY   IN   GOTHIC  219 

astonishing  airiness,  puts  the  finishing  touch  to  the  com- 
position. These  colossal  statues,  looking  out  from  their 
niches,  speak  with  living  tongues  of  old-time  incident  and 
stories  that  have  made  the  world  tremble,  of  victories  for 
the  Faith,  won  by  Crusading  zeal  at  a  time  when  the  Church 
was  truly  militant.  Clovis  appears  in  the  middle  of  the 
Kings  of  France ;  and  Saul  and  Solomon,  David  and 
Goliath,  Christ  in  the  guise  of  a  pilgrim,  look  down  upon 
us  from  their  canopies  of  stone  set  like  jewels  in  this 
dazzling  filigree  of  Gothic.  Reminders  of  the  storied  past 
arc  present,  otherwise,  in  the  Treasury  with  its  gorgeous 
vestments  and  symbols  of  kingly  power. 

The  statue  of  Joan  of  Arc  reigns  in  the  Cathedral  nowa- 
days— scene  of  her  former  triumphs — and  there  are  curious 
old  tapestries  that  recall  her  times.  To  most  Anglo- 
Saxons,  Rheims  speaks  of  the  Jackdaw  and  the  Prelate's 
Ring  of  the  "  Ingoldsby  Legends" : — 

"  The  Jackdaw  sat  on  the  Cardinal's  chair  ! 

Bishop,  and  Abbot,  and  Prior  were  there  ; 
Many  a  Monk,  and  many  a  Friar, 
Many  a  Knight,  and  many  a  Squire, 

With  a  great  many  more  of  lesser  degree — 

In  sooth  a  goodly  company." 

The  Cardinal  Lord  Archbishop  of  Rheims  is,  no  doubt, 
still  a  noble  figure  to  be  "  read  of  in  books  and  dreamed 
of  in  dreams,"  but  alas !  the  Jackdaw  no  longer  sits  on  his 
chair.  Probably  that  wily  bird  is  content  to  look  upon 
the  features,  in  effigy,  of  the  Prelate  which  appear  on  the 
north  portal,  or  to  spend  his  time  watching  for  the  man 
to  look  from  the  trap-door,  when  the  great  clock  strikes  in 
the  North  Transept — the  hale  and  hearty  ancestor  of  the 
great  timepieces  of  the  world.  No  doubt,  also,  the  present 
ruler  of  the  diocese  would  be  too  well-bred  to  curse  if  his 
Pastoral  Ring  were  missing   one  day.     The  jackdaw  of 


2  20  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

the  legend  certainly  deserves  a  place  amongst  the  statu- 
ary ;  sharp  eyes  might  perhaps  discover  some  likeness  to 
him  in  the  five  hundred  or  so  figures  in  the  recessed  door- 
ways, either  in  his  bald,  dishevelled  state,  or  as  fat  and 
unctuous  when,  having  received  absolution  and  given  up 
thieving,  he  becomes  a  real  pillar  of  the  Church,  and  dies, 
unquestionably,  in  the  odour  of  sanctity. 

If  Rheims  is  masculine,  Amiens  is  feminine.  It  has, 
also,  its  Virgin  Mother,  a  statue  almost  as  touching  as 
that  at  Rheims,  on  the  pier  of  the  door  in  the  south 
transept.  Amiens  is  like  a  jewel  casket.  The  decorative 
work  is  more  delicate  than  at  Rheims,  or,  indeed,  any- 
where else.  To  my  mind,  it  is  the  absolute  perfection  of 
Gothic.  In  a  sense,  it  is  the  most  successful  example  of 
what  Gothic  wished  to  achieve :  the  complete  effacement 
of  architectural  means  whereby  the  maximum  of  height, 
light  and  space  is  attained  with  the  minimum  of  apparent 
effort.  If  Amiens  were  a  steel  frame  building  one  could 
understand  its  marvellous  balance.  Being  a  stone  building, 
its  airiness,  without  any  suggestion  of  flimsiness,  makes 
us  gasp.  It  is  curious  that,  although  built  about  the  same 
time  as  Salisbury,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  it  is  more  mature  in  style  than  the  great  English 
cathedral.  England  cannot  show  the  like  of  these  gor- 
geous rose  windows,  a  hundred  feet  in  circumference. 
And  yet  the  uncoloured  light  that  beats  in  relentlessly 
elsewhere  in  the  building,  and  the  cold  railings  to  the 
chapels  which  surround  the  choir,  have  chilled  some  ob- 
servers of  poetic  feeling  and  have  given  them  the  sensa- 
tion that  here  is  no  place  for  prayer.  Ruskin,  however, 
had  other  impressions. 

The  First  Pointed  of  Normandy  has,  perhaps,  its  most 
picturesque  expression  in  Rouen  Cathedral ;  but  diversity 
and   irregularity   of  construction,  as  exemplified    in    the 


<    5 

it 

W      X 


FRENCH   HISTORY   IN   GOTHIC  221 

strikingly  dissimilar  towers — which  are  dignified  enough  in 
their  bold  prominence  from  the  ends  of  the  aisles — prevent 
it  from  being  considered  of  the  best  type,  the  peer  of 
Amiens,  Bourges,  Chartres  and  Rheims.  Notwithstanding 
this  reservation,  there  is  no  great  northern  temple  possess- 
ing so  many  points  of  value  and  beauty.  Bewilderingly 
interesting  it  certainly  is,  as  an  example  of  Flamboyant 
Gothic,  which,  in  its  way,  reaches  an  extraordinary  degree 
of  perfection. 

Notre  Dame  de  Paris  makes,  somehow,  a  quite  different 
appeal.  As  a  piece  of  architecture  it  is  wonderful,  and,  in 
some  senses,  second  to  none  in  the  world.  And  yet  its 
prestige,  to-day,  owes  more  to  the  rhetoric  of  Hugo  and  the 
ebb  and  flow  of  history  than  to  its  intrinsic  workmanship. 
Here  Napoleon  seized  the  crown  from  the  hands  of  Pope 
Pius  VII  and  placed  it  on  his  own  head,  in  the  famous 
ceremony  which  made  him  Emperor  with  the  blessing 
of  the  Church.  Only  a  few  years  previously,  the  Christian 
religion  had  come  back  again  to  France,  and  its  return 
was  celebrated  by  a  gorgeous  Easter  Mass.  Before  that 
was  the  Festival  of  the  Goddess.  Madame  Moreno,  a 
printer's  wife,  was  seated  on  the  High  Altar,  and  repaid 
the  devotion  of  her  worshippers  with  a  kiss.  The  drip- 
ping torches,  the  shouts  of  the  rabble,  the  irreverent  pan- 
tomime of  the  service,  and  the  wild,  surging  revolutionary 
mobs  outside  must  have  contrasted  strangely  with  the 
glittering  picture  in  which  Napoleon,  with  the  aid  of  the 
Marquis  de  Segur,  tried  to  reconstitute  one  of  the  coro- 
nation scenes  of  the  old  Kings  of  France.  At  the  critical 
moment,  he  seized  the  crown — a  gesture  singularly  illus- 
trative of  his  own  career.  A  million  and  a  quarter  francs 
were  expended  in  coronation  robes  for  Emperor  and 
Empress,  and  another  million  in  crowns  and  tiaras.  A 
splendid  figure  the  Corsican  looked  with  his  coat  of  red 


222  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

velvet,  embroidered  with  gold.  About  his  shoulders  hung 
a  short  cloak,  sown  with  bees,  and  from  his  neck  was 
suspended  the  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  studded 
with  diamonds.  At  the  last  moment,  before  leaving  the 
Archbishop's  Palace  for  the  cathedral,  he  assumed  a  long 
robe  of  purple  velvet,  trimmed  with  ermine.  In  the  pom- 
mel of  Charlemagne's  sword,  which  had  been  brought  to 
Paris  for  the  occasion,  flashed  the  Pitt  Diamond,  which 
had  now  fallen  to  the  Dictator,  after  having  enhanced  the 
family  fortunes  of  the  British  statesman. 

Josephine's  robe  of  white  satin,  trimmed  with  gold  and 
silver,  and  embroidered  with  golden  bees,  singularly 
became  a  woman  who  was  radiantly  happy.  Her  fears 
were  momentarily  lulled  ;  she  knew  that  Napoleon,  in  his 
upward  flight,  could  not  discard  her  before,  at  least,  a  decent 
interval  had  elapsed  after  the  ceremony  of  the  Coronation. 
She  found  material  security,  therefore,  as  well  as  food  for 
her  pride — always  present  in  the  Creole — in  her  position 
of  Empress.  The  onlookers  were  fascinated  by  her 
charm  and  grace.  Her  waist  and  shoulders  glittered  with 
diamonds  ;  upon  her  brow  sat  a  diadem  of  the  finest  stones, 
representing  untold  wealth.  One  thinks  instinctively  of 
the  necklace  that  adorned  the  throat  of  Marie  Antoinette, 
the  last  of  the  great  line  of  Queens — that  fatal  necklace 
that  shattered  her  own  reputation  and  brought  to  ruin  the 
House  of  Bourbon.  It  had  not  cost  half  the  money  ot 
the  circlet  that  shone  from  the  forehead  of  Josephine  de 
Beauharnais. 

The  thoughts  of  many  beholders,  no  doubt,  took  a 
reminiscent  turn.  They  imagined  Napoleon  sailing  up  the 
Seine,  as  a  young  student  about  to  attend  the  classes  of  the 
Ecole  Militaire,  and  landing  for  the  first  time  at  the  steps 
close  to  the  great  Cathedral,  where  he  was  to  receive  the 
highest  consecration  of  his  career.     This  "  symphony  in 


FRENCH   HISTORY  IN   GOTHIC  223 

stone,"  as  Hugo  describes  it,  played  a  large  part  in  the 
Napoleonic  drama  ;  it  was  here  that  the  Parvenu  cele- 
brated his  marriage  with  Marie  Louise,  after  he  had 
divorced  Josephine. 

No  church  has  suffered  more  severely  from  the  malady 
of  restoration ;  no  church  has  been  equally  the  butt  of 
Revolutionary  Vandals.  In  its  uncoloured  grandeur  the 
interior  still  presents  a  magnificent  example  of  the  Early 
Gothic,  though  the  Sans-Culottes  wreaked  their  insane 
vengeance  upon  the  tombs  and  sepulchral  monuments. 
The  happiest  restorer  of  Notre  Dame,  as  well  as  of  that 
delicate  bijou  of  Gothic  work,  the  Sainte  Chapelle  (con- 
structed by  Saint  Louis),  was  Viollet-le-Duc.  He  had  in 
him  more  of  the  Gothic  spirit  than  had  been  vouchsafed  to 
others  of  his  kind.  And  he  tells  us  how  he  became  in- 
spired for  his  life's  work.  He  was  taken  to  the  Cathedral 
as  a  boy,  and  his  eyes  rested  with  awe  and  childish  wonder- 
ment on  the  great  rose  window.  The  organ  filled  the 
church  with  heavenly  sounds,  and  the  young  lad  thought 
the  music  came  from  the  radiant  glass  to  which  the  rays 
of  an  evening  sun  lent  additional  magnificence.  It  seemed 
to  his  boyish  imagination  that  the  light  tones  supplied  the 
treble  notes,  and  the  dark  the  bass. 

Saint-Denis,  the  sepulchre  of  the  House  of  France,  has, 
alas !  suffered  much  from  mutilation  and  modification;  yet 
it  still  remains  a  monument  of  the  past,  with  a  soil  impreg- 
nated with  history.  Pages  might  be  written,  but  we  have 
only  a  few  words  to  devote  to  Laon,  which  was  the  cradle 
of  the  Gothic,  or  to  Beauvais,  "  melancholy  fragment, 
having  no  more  than  head  and  arms,  flung  out  in  despair, 
like  an  appeal  for  ever  ignored  by  heaven  " ;  nor  can  we 
linger  at  Bourges — with  its  five  porches  opening  on  a  long 
perspective  of  aisles. 

It    is    strange,  certainly,   that    between   England  and 


2  24  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

France  there  should  be  such  great  differences  in  Gothic, 
notwithstanding  their  close  connection  in  Norman  and 
Plantagenet  days.  It  is  only  in  the  northern  part  of 
France — between  the  Seine  and  the  Aisne,  it  may  be 
roughly  outlined — has  come  the  fullest  development  of 
what  is  essentially  Christian  architecture,  for  it  represents 
in  its  sculptured  portals,  in  the  colour  of  its  stained  glass, 
and  in  the  cruciform  construction  of  the  churches,  the 
innate  conception  and  medieval  symbolism  of  religion. 
Churches  in  the  South  may  have  their  Gothic  too,  but 
it  is  mere  importation,  unsuited  to  the  people  and  their 
needs,  and  unsuited  to  the  relentless  blue  sky  over- 
head. The  Gothic  is  essentially  of  the  North,  representing 
the  piety  of  peoples  with  whom  life  is  a  serious  thing,  a 
thing  of  strain  and  upward  trending.  It  is  curious,  and 
yet  not  curious,  that  history  and  the  best  sort  of  architec- 
ture have  blended  in  this  noble  array  of  cathedrals  of  the 
North  which  I  have  here  faintly  described.  Do  they  mark 
the  high  water  in  French  civilization  ?  That,  we  cannot 
say ;  but,  assuredly,  they  point  to  an  epoch  when  religious 
conviction  and  artistic  sincerity  went  hand  in  hand  and 
produced  the  most  astounding  results,  results  at  which  we 
moderns  can  only  greatly  marvel.  Evidently,  since  the 
days  of  Philip  Augustus,  there  has  been  a  sad  falling  off  in 
constructive  skill.  The  twentieth  century  cannot  produce 
the  pure  beauty,  the  soulful  soaring  and  harmonious 
ensemble  of  the  thirteenth. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE    FRENCHWOMAN   AND   THE  VOTE 

THERE  was  evidently  something  changed  in 
France  when  six  women  presented  their  candi- 
dature for  Parliament  at  the  General  Election  in 
May,  1 910.  The  Code  had  not  foreseen  the  contingency — 
the  Code  which  regulates  everything  in  France — and  was 
mute  upon  the  point.  But  the  Conseil  d'Etat,  which  acts 
as  interpreter  of  the  law,  decreed  that  women,  not  being 
electors,  were  not  eligible  as  candidates.  This  did  not 
dismay  the  ladies ;  they  were  aware  in  advance  of  their 
disqualification.  Their  action  was  intended  as  a  demonstra- 
tion. The  tactics  may  be  commended  to  the  English 
Suffragettes.  The  academic  invasion  was  accepted  with 
perfect  good-humour  by  both  sides.  In  the  meetings  ad- 
dressed by  the  women,  they  were  roundly  heckled,  but  stood 
their  ground  bravely.  Harder  to  bear  were  the  witticisms 
of  the  "  badauds,"  which  led,  in  the  case  of  the  doctoress, 
Mile  Le  Peletier,  to  some  lively  passages  of  arms.  The 
most  popular,  as  well  as  the  most  talented  candidate,  was 
Mme  Marguerite  Durand.  She  has  the  gift  of  speech  as 
well  as  a  pleasing  presence,  which  counts  for  so  much  in 
France.  Mme  Durand  was  director  and  founder  of  the 
celebrated  "La  Fronde,"  the  woman's  paper,  that  came  to  an 
end  a  few  years  ago,  after  having  accomplished  a  strenuous 
mission  during  I'Affaire  Dreyfus.  Having  great  charm  of 
delivery  and  a  gift  of  holding  her  audience,  Mme  Durand 
15  225 


226        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

achieved  considerable  oratorical  success.  "  I  took  care," 
she  said  to  the  writer,  in  relating  her  experiences,  "  to  keep 
on  ground  which  is  familiar  to  me ;  I  spoke  exclusively  of 
women's  questions."  She  was  frank  enough  to  add  that, 
had  she  treated  of  other  topics,  she  might  not  have  been 
as  patiently  listened  to. 

}  This  conversation  took  place  in  Mme  Durand's  editorial 
[office  at  "  Les  Nouvelles,"  a  daily  journal  of  which  she  is 
associate-editor.  Flowers  stood  on  the  American  roll-top 
desk,  and  the  feminine  "note"  softened  the  professional 
rigoui;  of  the  room.    Mme  Durand  momentarily  suspended 

\her  advocacy  of  the  woman's  cause  to  hand  her  visitor  a 
bonbon.  Part  of  her  personal  success  is  due  to  her  insist- 
ence upon  her  sex  :  there  is  no  pose  of  masculinity. 

The  flowers  and  the  sweets  typify,  I  think,  the  Feminist 
movement.   Whilst  the  Suffragette  has  tried  "direct  action  " 
with  anything  but  direct  success,  the  Feminist  in  France 
has  conquered  her  way  by  smiles  of  persuasion  and,  princi- 
pally, by  saying  little  about  it.    Sex  prejudice  and  hostility 
have  not  been  awakened  by  a  too  vigorous  propagandism. 
I  Man  has  won  his  rights  by  blood  and  blows,  but  women's 
.--f  political  freedom  will  be  due  to  gallantry.    One  of  the  most 
'.      ^significant  facts  about  the  movement  is  that  men  are  more 
Ibent  upon  it  than  women. 
r       There  is,  indeed,  a  great  indifference  amongst  the  sex. 
i      Working  women  and  duchesses  care  little  for  it — for  differ- 
ent reasons.    The  women  of  the  proletariat  are  accustomed 
to  labour,  but  not  to  think  of  their  political  rights.     Sober, 
industrious,  self-respecting,  they  turn  their  energies  to  their 
own  households  and  to  their  daily  work  in  factories  and 
laundries.     The  necessity  of  contributing  to  the  common 
j  fund,  the  management  of  the  husband  and  of  the  "  gosse  " 
1  — if  the  latter  is  of  age  to  have  left  the  care  of"  grand'mere" 
1  in  the  country — absorb  every  hour  of  the  day  and  leave  no 


THE   FRENCHWOMAN   AND   THE   VOTE        227 

leisure  and,  probably,  no  inclination  for  political  agitation. 
The  French  "  better  half "  understands  her  value  and  her 
influence  in  her  own  circle  and  doubts  whether  they  can  be 
increased  by  the  Parliamentary  vote.  Yet  no  one  needs 
to  be  reminded  of  the  strenuous  part  played  by  women 
in  French  history.  They  stood  forth  prominently  in  the 
Fronde,  and  the  blood-thirstiness  of  the  "  Tricoteuses  '* 
constitutes  one  of  the  most  terrible  phases  of  the  Revolution. 
Several  women  fought  with  great  bravery  in  the  trenches 
during  the  Napoleonic  wars.  If  any  question  moved  her 
profoundly,  to-day,  the  woman  of  the  Halles  and  of  the 
other  occupations  of  robust  womanhood  in  Paris  would 
stand  as  gallantly  behind  the  barricades  as  her  husband  or 
brother.  Happily,  she  does  not  feel  the  necessity.  Possibly,  | 
the  political  grievance  would  come  as  the  result  of  the  \ 
political  responsibility,  th^supply  creating  the  demand.       i 

The  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  at  the  other  end  of  the  social 
scale,  disregards  the  movement  for  other  reasons.  The 
average  "  femme  du  monde  "  believes  that  to  be  associated 
with  an  agitation  of  the  sort  would  be  to  alienate  the 
sympathy  of  the  men  and  put  too  great  a  strain  upon  their 
devotion.  Already  in  a  privileged  position,  she  has  no  wish 
to  compromise  it  by  adopting  what  would  be  regarded  as 
an  "  outre  "  attitude.  And  so  the  "  salons  "  of  the  Ancien 
Regime  remain  cold  to  the  question  of  woman's  enfranch- 
isement. 

Nor  does  the  quiet  and   intensely  respectable  "Bour- 
geoise  "  betray,  on  the  whole,  any  great  enthusiasm  for  the 
Cause.     She  throws  herself  into  many  activities  without* 
troubling  to  know  whether  she  is  directly  represented  at; 
the  Palais  Bourbon.     There  is  in  her  political  aloofness, 
a  certain  disdain  :  a  feeling  that  the  deputy  is  an  expensive' 
and  expansive  creature,  whose  method  of  obtaining  a  living 
is  not  particularly  interesting.    The  meticulous  care  of  her 


228 


FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 


C 


house  and  the  affection  lavished  upon  the  child — particu- 
larly if  a  son — together  with  the  claims  of  a  family  circle, 
which  includes  remote  cousins,  leave  her  as  little  time  as 
her  humbler  sister  for  public  meetings  and  other  manifes- 
^tations  of  political  activity.  There  is  no  woman  in  the 
■world  who  takes  more  seriously  her  role  of  wife  and 
mother,  though  a  good  deal  of  current  French  fiction  tries 
to  make  us  believe  the  opposite.  Her  close  attention  to 
the  least  domestic  detail  is  as  strong  a  virtue  as  her 
economy,  which  is  practised  even  when  there  is  no  im- 
perative necessity.  Women  in  a  similar  position  in 
England  delegate  part  of  their  duties  to  housekeepers. 

The  Feminist  movement  springs  from  an  active  and 
intellectual  group  within  the  bourgeoisie.  Every  reform 
in  France  has  been  brought  about  by  a  minority.  The 
Great  Revolution  was  imposed  upon  the  masses  by  ardent 
spirits  amongst  the  middle  classes.  And,  to-day,  if  a 
breach  is  made  in  the  Napoleonic  Code,  which  places 
women,  children  and  idiots  in  the  same  category,  it  will 
be  due  to  the  persistent  efforts  of  a  small  knot  of  writers 
and  thinkers. 

Now  that  the  pulpit  has  largely  lost  its  influence,  power 
has  passed  to  the  Stage  and  to  the  Press.  The  plays  of 
Brieux,  Hervieu,  Lavedan  and  Octave  Mirbeau  have 
broken  down  Bourgeois  prejudices,  widened  the  common 
outlook  and  enlarged  sympathies  for  "la  jeune  fille." 
Resonant  blows  have  been  struck  at  the  Comedie 
Frangaise  and  the  Odeon — centres  of  respectable  middle- 
class  opinion — for  the  emancipation  of  women.  Only  those 
of  long  residence  in  France  realize  how  firmly  fixed  is  the 
Roman  tradition  in  the  treatment  of  the  woman.  In 
iinovels  and  newspapers,  Victor  Margueritte,  one  of  the 
literary  brothers,  who  have  dissolved  partnership  after 
years  of  close  association,  preaches  the  equality  of  the 


THE  FRENCHWOMAN   AND   THE   VOTE        229 

sexes.     At  the  same  time,  he  urges  the  physical  regener- 
ation of  the  race  by  adopting  Swedish  drill  for  girls — a 
suggestion  that  has  taken  root  in  some  schools  in  France. 
That   charming   and   delicate   analyser   of  the   feminine ;' 
heart,  Marcel  Prevost,  is  also  enthusiastically  pro-Feminist,  j 
In   a  recent  article  in  a  women's  periodical,  M.  Prevost 
acknowledges  that  the  great  majority  of  his  readers  care 
nothing  for  the  vote  ;  but  he  urges  that  the  suffrages  of 
an  honest  mother  of  a  family  and  of  a  laborious  young 
woman  would  be  of  advantage  to  the  State.    A  beginning 
might  be  made,  he  says,  by  bestowing  the  franchise  upon 
women  who  have  borne  children.     It  is  another  form  of*, 
the  "blood  tax" — payable  by  the  men  in  military  service 
and  hitherto  regarded  as  the  "sine  qua  non"  of  citizenship.' 

M.  Jean    Finot,  the   brilliant  director  of  "  La  Revue,"' 
advances  the  view  that  woman's  vote  is  necessary  for  the 
salvation  of  Parliamentarism.    Why  has  the  representative 
system  failed  in  France  ?     Because  of  the  absence  of  the 
feminine  element.     The  half  is  not  the  equal  of  the  whole,*  j 
and  two  halves  are  not  represented  by  one  half.     It  would  j/ 
be  difficult  to   find  any  writer  of  distinction   in   France^ 
who  does  not  favour  female  suffrage.  '^ 

Women  novelists,  if  they  do  not,  as  a  rule,  occupy  them- 
selves with  the  vote,  claim  a  large  liberty  for  the  sex. 
Under  "New  Social  Influences"  I  have  alluded  to  "La 
Rebelle,"  by  Mme  Marcelle  Tinayre.  The  writer,  we  re- 
member, imagines  her  heroine  having  to  earn  her  living  as  a 
journalist.  It  is  because  she  is  the  new  Frenchwoman  that 
we  insist,  again,  on  her  independence  and  fearless  resolve 
to  answer  the  dictates  of  her  own  heart  in  the  manage- 
ment of  her  love  affairs.  "  La  Rebelle  "  is  a  typical  figure 
in  France  to-day,  many  a  young  girl  daring  to  resist 
parental  authority  in  the  choice  of  a  partner  in  life,  or  in 
the  selection  of  a  career  for  herself.     Another  novel,  which 


^3 


230        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

I  have  already  mentioned  as  defending  the  new  standpoint 
of  women,  is  "  Nietzscheenne."  Mme  Lesueur,  the  author, 
is  a  foremost  writer  of  fiction  in  France  and  is,  herself,  a 
conspicuous  example  of  feminine  achievement.  She  holds 
the  position  of  Vi(5e-President  of  the  Societe  des  Gens 
de  Lettres,  which  is  proof  of  the  literary  man's  acknow- 
ledgment of  feminine  capacity  in  France.  The  sordid  side 
of  the  "dot"  is  now  often  insisted  upon  in  books  and  plays. 

The  movement  has  gained  a  great  impetus  during  the 
past  year  (191 1).  A  petition  for  the  granting  of  the  vote 
to  women  has  been  accepted  by  the  Committee  of  the 
Chamber,  which  is  "  prima  facie  "  evidence  of  agreement 
with  the  principle,  and  a  Bill  has  been  reintroduced  to 
give  women  the  municipal  franchise.  This  latter  privilege 
is  likely  to  be  accorded  in  the  course  of  the  present  Par- 
liament. It  will  provide  a  powerful  arm  for  the  attainment 
of  the  Parliamentary  vote.  The  obvious  sympathy  of 
deputies  with  the  claims  of  womanhood  should  surprise 
no  one  familiar  with  the  intellectual  honesty  of  the  French 
and  their  acceptance  of  any  principle,  logically  stated. 
There  is,  however,  a  wide  gulf  fixed  between  theory  and 
practice.  If  it  is  easy  to  convince  by  argument,  it  is  hard 
to  turn  the  generous  dream  into  reality. 

Once  in  possession  of  the  municipal  vote,  woman  will 
have  to  exercise  discretion  in  its  employment.  Upon  her 
comprehension  of  the  situation  will  depend  the  support, 
or  veiled  hostility,  of  the  Republican  groups  to  an  en- 
largement of  her  powers.  The  principal  objection  enter- 
tained by  Ministerialists  to  the  bestowal  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary vote  is  the  fear  that  women  will  use  it  to  bring 
back  the  Church  and  to  undo  the  liberating  work  of  the 
Republic  during  the  past  decade.  In  her  capacity  of 
municipal  voter  woman  will  have  a  voice  in  the  allocation 
of  funds  derived  from  the  dispersal  of  the  Orders ;  this 


THE   FRENCHWOMAN   AND  THE   VOTE        231 

distribution  may  be  made  in  a  sense  favourable  or  un- 
favourable  to    the    present   Anti-Clerical    policy   of    the 
Government.     Many  Parliamentarians  feel  that  the  old  , 
Clerical  question — resolved  after  immense  discussion  and 
at  great  risk  of  disturbance — would  be  reopened  by  the  1  \\^ 
votes  of  women.     The  sex  is  the  great  upholder  of  the  Ix 
Church  in  France.     On  Catholic  fete  days  in  Paris  and  *^ 
the  Provinces  the  religious  edifices  are  filled  with  women. 
They  maintain  the  churches  and  the  charitable  organiza- 
tions by  their  contributions.     It  has  also  been  held  that 
they  would  vote  for  the  return  of  Royalty,  but  this  is  by 
no  means  clear — more  especially  as  there  is  no  figure  of 
importance  amongst  the  Pretenders. 

The  example  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand  goes  to 
prove  that  women  do  not  band  themselves  to  vote  for  any  j 
particular  set  of  principles,  but  are  divided  in  their  sym-  ^ 
pathies  as  are  the  men.  The  result,  then,  of  increasing 
the  electorate  has  been  to  change  very  little  the  balance 
of  parties,  though  the  tendency  is  for  the  middle-class 
woman  to  abstain  from  the  polls,  whilst  the  working- 
class  woman  votes  in  full  strength.  The  presence  of  the 
feminine  element  in  the  contests  has  been  further  marked 
by  an  improvement  in  the  moral  status  of  the  candidates. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  similar  results  are  to  be 
expected  from  Female  Suffrage  in  France,  but  I  think  it  is 
very  doubtful.  Whilst  Socialism  might  be  strengthened 
in  the  towns,  the  result  over  the  country,  generally,  would 
be  favourable  to  the  Church  party.  The  Clericals  would 
seize  eagerly  upon  this  new  force,  since  it  is  said  that  they 
have  already  allied  themselves  with  the  Socialists.  Nor 
would  a  change  in  attitude  towards  the  recognized  moral- 
izing influences  in  the  country  be  regrettable  since  the 
ill  effects  of  the  opposite  temper  are  seen  every  day.  Anti- 
Clerical  deputies,  as  we  have  seen,  are  often  suspected  by 


232  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

supporters  because  of  the  Clericalism  of  their  wives.  It 
was  reproached  against  M.  Jean  Jaures,  leader  of  the 
Parliamentary  Socialists,  that  his  child  was  baptized  with 
water  brought  from  the  Jordan  and  was  educated  in  a  con- 
vent. The  Clerical  sympathies  of  the  woman  are  often  a 
source  of  embarrassment  to  the  "  priest-eating  "  politician. 
The  fact  that  christenings,  marriages,  and  funerals  still 
take  place  at  the  church,  even  in  families  whose  heads 
are  politically  opposed  to  organized  religion,  seems  to 
show  that  this  phase  of  Republicanism  is  artificial  and 
'\  responds  to  no  real  conviction.  Still,  it  would  be  folly  to 
conclude  that  the  Church  has  not  lost  ground,  very  sensi- 
bly, as  a  teaching  force.  M.  Aristide  Briand,  when  in 
office,  felt  that  Anti-Clericalism  had  gone  far  enough,  but 
his  work  of  conciliation,  as  I  show  earlier  in  this  book, 
was  arrested  by  the  Chamber.  Suffice  to  say  that,  despite 
the  verdict  of  the  country  in  the  elections  of  May,  1910, 
and  the  implied  condemnation  of  Combism,  there  was  a 
revival  of  sectarian  policy.  This,  however,  was  factitious 
and  born  of  the  political  intrigues  of  the  hour.  It  is  quite 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  Woman's  Suffrage  would  still 
further  modify  public  opinion  in  the  old  controversy  of 
Church  and  State. 

However  this  may  be,  the  Suffragists  in  France  have 
drawn  up  an  ambitious  programme  of  social  legislation. 
The  "  recherche  de  la  paternity  "  is  claimed  in  the  interests 
of  the  mother  and  child  as  a  remedy  against  abandon- 
ment, and  has  already  been  proposed  in  the  Senate.  At 
present  the  woman  is  legally  defenceless,  and  a  popular 
recognition  of  her  position  is  to  be  found  in  the  leniency 
with  which  juries  treat  cases  of  assault  upon  the  seducer — 
who  has  shown  heartless  conduct.  The  tendency  is  to 
liberate  the  woman  who  has  called  attention  to  her 
wrongs  by  throwing  vitriol  or  discharging  a  pistol  at  the 


THE   FRENCHWOMAN   AND  THE   VOTE        233 

man.  However  dangerous  such  tolerance  may  be,  it  re- 
sponds to  a  rough  kind  of  justice. 

If  women  reformers  are  interested  in  the  "  fille-mere," 
they  also  show  an  enlightened  sympathy  with  the  work- 
girl.  This  interesting  young  person  is  badly  paid  in 
many  occupations  connected  with  fashion  and  is  the  ready 
victim  of  market  fluctuations.  Unless  supported  by  her 
parents,  she  has  no  means  of  subsistence  during  the  dead 
season,  and  must  fall,  temporarily  at  least,  into  the  ranks 
of  prostitution.  Again,  factory  laws  are  evaded.  A  recent 
Ministerial  decree  has  limited  overtime  and  night-work  in 
dressmaking  and  kindred  industries,  but  a  great  deal 
remains  to  be  done  both  in  inspection  and  in  insistence 
upon  proper  sanitary  conditions  in  the  workshop.  It  is 
significant  that  women  reformers,  themselves,  express 
little  thanks  for  the  efforts  of  legislators  to  regulate  female 
labour.  "  We  wish  to  have  freedom  of  contract,"  they  say, 
"and  to  be  placed  on  an  equality  with  man  as  regards 
wages  and  conditions."  Women's  congresses  call  atten- 
tion to  the  blunders  committed  in  the  name  of  humanity 
by  philanthropists  of  the  other  sex.  "  Save  us  from  our 
friends  in  Parliament,"  they  cry. 

For  fifteen  years  a  law  giving  women  the  elemental 
right  of  disposing  of  their  own  earnings  was  hung  up  in 
the  Senate.  It  has  now  been  passed,  but  the  sanction  is 
incomplete  without  a  revision  of  the  marriage  system. 
The  married  woman,  who  is  a  wage-earner,  is  free  to 
draw  and  spend  her  own  wages.  Should  she  invest  her 
money  in  furniture,  the  articles  belong  to  the  husband,  in 
the  absence  of  a  contract — the  rule  in  working-class  mar- 
riages. To  obtain,  therefore,  full  benefit  from  her  economic 
independence — at  present  somewhat  illusory — she  must 
have  control  of  her  goods  and  chattels.  Such  a  system, 
known   as  the   "separation   de   biens,"   is  common  in  a 


234        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

superior   class   of   society,   but  rare  amongst  persons  of 
modest  circumstances. 

Legal  disabilities  weigh  heavily  upon  the  woman  in 
business,  though  it  is  a  commonplace  that  in  France  she 
shows  remarkable  aptitude  and  a  strong  common  sense. 
The  reluctance  of  the  law  to  admit  her  responsibility  in 
any  transaction,  becomes  grotesque  when  one  considers 
that  small  businesses,  particularly  in  the  Provinces,  are 
practically  run  by  women,  the  husband  being  a  mere 
figure-head,  and  that  no  cafe  or  restaurant  in  the  larger 
towns  can  dispense  with  its  woman  cashier,  upon  whom 
devolves  the  production  of  the  daily  balance-sheet,  and, 
often,  the  general  oversight  of  the  establishment. 

It  is  barely  necessary,  at  this  time  of  day,  to  insist  on 
the  victories  of  Feminism.  "  Elles  sautent  aux  yeux." 
It  is  difficult  to  take  up  an  illustrated  journal  without  find- 
ing a  portrait  of  some  woman  who  has  distinguished  her- 
self in  an  intellectual  capacity.  Like  Mary,  the  French 
Feminist  has  chosen  the  better  part,  whilst  the  English 
Martha  has  been  cumbered  with  much  serving — of  sen- 
sational paragraphs  to  the  newspapers.  Silent  and  in- 
sidious is  the  march  of  Feminism,  and  the  more  formidable 
in  consequence.  The  enemy  has  almost  got  possession  of 
the  town  before  the  inhabitants  are  aware  of  it.  The 
Frenchwoman  realizes  that  her  countrymen  do  not 
require  the  arguments  that  the  Suffragette  addresses  to 
the  more  positive  Anglo-Saxon  mind.  In  the  physical 
sufferings  of  the  English  protagonist  there  is  the  backward 
suggestion  of  brutality  in  the  dominant  male  ;  it  is  only  by 
force  that  his  intellect  can  be  reached.  The  spectacle  of 
society  women  with  torn  clothes  and  distorted  features, 
battling  with  the  police,  is,  surely,  impossible  in  the  "Para- 
dise of  women." 

Professional  doors  have  been  thrown  wide  open  to  the 


THE   FRENCHWOMAN   AND   THE   VOTE        235 

sex  in  France.  The  Sorbonne  gives  its  diplomas  equally 
to  male  and  female  students,  drawing  none  of  the  dis- 
tinctions so  invidious  and  unworthy  that  prevail  at  Oxford 
and  Cambridge ;  women  enter  the  law  and  medicine, 
compete  for  the  Prix  de  Rome  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux 
Arts,  write  excellent  books  and  plays,  paint  and  sculp 
and  even  pilot  balloons.  Diplomacy  has  gained  a  recruit 
in  Mme  Camille  Du  Gast  sent  to  Morocco  on  a  mission  to 
spy  out  the  country  for  French  capital  and  enterprise. 
Mile  Chauvin,  Mme  Petit,  and  Mile  Myropolski  have 
shown  courage  at  the  Bar.  In  medicine,  the  Russian  and 
Polish  girl  is  attracted  rather  than  the  French,  Gallic  sensi- 
bility being  less  proof,  apparently,  than  the  Slav,  against  the 
assaults  on  the  nervous  system  of  this  arduous  profession. 

A  movement  in  favour  of  trained  nurses  has  begun, 
and  seems  likely  to  attract  young  women  of  good  type 
instead  of  the  creature  who  has  hitherto  been  a  byword  for 
rapacity  and  incompetence.  But  the  gap  caused  by  the 
departure  of  the  Si?ters  has  not  yet  been  filled  in  French 
hospitals. 

Whether  consciously  or  not,  woman  is  preparing  for  the 
highest  destinies.  Though  we  may  dispute  her  ability  to 
combine  for  concerted  action,  we  shall  not  disregard  the 
importance  of  even  unorganized  political  power.  Great 
changes  will  arise  as  the  result  of  a  possession  of  the  fran- 
chise. Not  the  least  will  be,  I  think,  some  modification  of 
the  present  Parliamentary  organism — a  reversion  of  type, 
perhaps,  to  the  Republic  imagined  by  Thiers  and  Gam- 
betta,  where  some  higher  place  would  be  given  to  moral 
questions.  Many  observers  accuse  advanced  and  Social- 
istic Republicanism  of  the  growth  of  materialism  in  the 
country.  We  may  certainly  expect  profound  changes  as 
the  result  of  the  female  vote,  not  merely  in  the  partial 
elimination  of  the  social  evil,  the  equalization  of  parental 


236  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

responsibility  and  the  regulation  of  drunkenness,  but  in  the 
general  field  of  home  and  foreign  politics.  M.  Jean  Finot's 
indictment  of  Parliamentarism  as  one  of  the  ills  from  which 
France  is  suffering,  is  answered,  as  I  state  elsewhere,  by 
the  demand  for  the  "  scrutin  de  liste  "  and  proportional  re- 
presentation. The  "  scrutin  d'arrondissement "  has  failed 
to  produce  the  right  stamp  of  man,  notwithstanding  the 
increase  of  70  per  cent  in  the  Parliamentary  indemnity. 
Will  the  feminine  vote  introduce  a  new  and  virile  element 
capable  of  interpreting  the  higher  sentiments  of  the 
country?  Prophecy  is  rash  in  the  circumstances,  but  it 
may  be  assumed  that  the  influence  of  the  other  sex  at  the 
Palais  Bourbon  will  result  in  an  improvement  in  the 
Parliamentary  personnel. 

Dr.  Max  Nordau  holds  that  woman  is  even  more  patri- 
otic than  man,  and  would  not  allow  her  feelings  as  wife 
and  mother  to  prevent  her  from  adopting  a  firm  attitude 
in  matters  of  national  honour.  This  is  probably  the  correct 
view,  in  which  case  we  should  see  France  offering  a  stiffer 
front  to  Teutonic  aggression. 

No  revolution  of  the  sort  suggested  by  the  words 
"Votes  for  Women"  could  be  accomplished  without  carry- 
ing with  it  some  of  the  risks  that  every  large  experiment 
entails.  Already  woman's  participation  in  the  employ- 
ments hitherto  reserved  to  man  has  resulted  in  some  super- 
ficial change  of  type :  a  loss,  to  some  extent,  of  feminine 
charm.  But  there  is  a  graver  danger  in  prospect :  the 
growing  effeminacy  of  the  male.  It  would  seem  as  if 
Nature  had  only  a  certain  amount  of  virility  to  bestow, 
and  that  the  masculinity  of  woman  is  at  the  expense  of 
the  manliness  of  man.  Physiology  would,  no  doubt,  offer 
a  dozen  explanations.  But  the  possession  of  the  vote  will 
only  change  the  outward  form  of  things.  The  substance 
is  there  in  solid  daily  feminine  achievement. 


THE   FRENCHWOMAN   AND   THE  VOTE        237 

The  different  manner  in  which  the  women  of  the  two 
countries  have  envisaged  the  reform  is  due  to  tempera- 
ment as  much  as  to  circumstance.  There  is  in  the  tactics 
of  the  Suffragette  something  of  the  "cri  de  cceur"  of  a 
starved  heart ;  in  France  the  woman  has  succeeded  in  the 
astonishing  feat  of  capturing  man  by  her  natural  charms, 
and  yet  in  imposing  herself  upon  the  world  by  her  in- 
tellectuality and  capacity.  It  is  quite  likely  that  part  of 
her  indifference  to  the  actual  symbol  of  power  resides  in 
the  fact  that  she  prefers  to  exercise  that  subtler  force, 
which  is  occult. 

(The  above  article  appeared  in  "The  Fortnightly  Review" 
for  August,  191 1.) 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE   STAGE   AND   ITS   PROBLEMS 

"  v^'^v  UAND  les  com^diens  montent,  le  peuple  des- 
I  1  cend"  wrote  that  "enfant  terrible"  of  the 
\^^^  French  stage,  Octave  Mirbeau,  in  an  article  on 
^^^^  Coquelin  aine,  who  had  just  been  decorated. 
It  is  certain  that  the  comedians  have  "  mounted "  con- 
siderably in  France  during  the  past  forty  years,  but  the 
truth  of  the  corollary  is  another  matter.  The  theatre  has 
achieved  great  prominence  at  the  expense  of  a  purely 
literary  expression.  It  has  become  the  great  tribune  for 
the  preaching  of  social  reform  and  for  the  discussion  of 
questions  of  everyday  life.  It  is  a  powerful — perhaps  the 
most  powerful — instrument  in  France,  to-day,  for  effecting 
changes.  The  modification  in  the  Divorce  Laws,  the  en- 
largement of  the  sympathies  of  the  Bourgeois,  who  is  nor- 
mally a  narrow  individual,  the  piercing  of  his  self-satisfac- 
tion, have  been  accomplished  at  the  price  of  much  bold 
speaking.  The  foundation  of  the  Theatre  Libre  by  Andre 
Antoine,  now  director  of  the  Second  National  Theatre,  the 
Odeon,  was  signalized  by  the  fall  of  many  conventions 
both  as  to  the  subjects  to  be  treated  on  the  stage  and  the 
methods  of  the  actors.  The  production  of  Brieux's  "  Les 
Avaries  "  marked  the  "  ultima  thule  "  of  realism.  That 
play  treated  of  a  dreadful  malady  and  insisted  on  the  duty 
of  society  to  protect  itself  from  contagion.  Another  ex- 
ample from  the  same  author  may  be  quoted  :  "Maternite," 

^38 


THE  STAGE   AND   ITS   PROBLEMS  239 

in  which  Brieux  preached  that  a  State  which  wishes  to 
encourage  children,  as  does  France,  is  cruelly  illogical  in 
its  treatment  of  the  "  fille-mere."  Any  theory,  however 
bold,  can  be  ventilated  on  the  French  stage.  This  is  more 
than  ever  the  case,  to-day,  since  even  the  nominal  censor- 
ship has  been  removed. 

The  resultant  liberty  has  given  a  great  impetus  to  the 
drama.  The  reverse  holds  good  in  England,  where  the 
theatre  is  bound  in  the  shackles  of  Mr.  Redford.  Men  of 
the  calibre  of  Meredith,  of  Galsworthy  and  Hichens,  of 
Thomas  Hardy,  Granville  Barker  and  George  Moore  are 
hardly  to  be  prevailed  upon  to  give  their  best  work  in 
order  that  it  shall  be  judged  by  an  official  of  the  Lord 
Chamberlain's  Office,  whose  zeal  may  outrun  his  discern- 
ment. French  plays,  when  they  are  transferred  to  Eng- 
land, suffer  grievously  in  the  process  and  become  almost 
unrecognizable.  It  may  be  assumed  that  this  energy  in 
adaptation  to  meet  the  conventional  requirements  of  the 
British  stage  would,  if  directed  towards  English  master- 
pieces, prove  equally  unfortunate.  The  difficulty  of  trans- 
lation is  proved  by  the  case  of  Bataille's  "  La  Femme 
Nue."  In  the  original,  the  play  presented  a  perfectly  un- 
derstandable type  of  a  French  model ;  in  English  "  The 
unveiled  woman  "  (interpreted  as  "  Dame  Nature ")  be- 
came, in  the  opinion  of  many  persons,  a  coarsened  and  in- 
comprehensible creature. 

The  predominance  of  the  stage  has  been  accompanied 
by  the  decadence  of  literature.  The  great  growth  in  the 
material  prosperity  of  France  has  brought  about  a  regret- 
table change  in  literary  manners.  When  the  aristocracy 
of  wealth  was  an  aristocracy  of  culture,  books  held  their 
proper  place  ;  but,  to-day,  a  new  class  has  arisen,  which,  en- 
riched by  a  close  attention  to  industry  and  commercial 
enterprise,  is  no  longer  qualified  to  direct  the  taste  of  the 


240  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

public.  Being  incapable  of  enjoying  the  higher  forms  of 
intellectual  pleasure,  the  new  plutocracy  demands  new 
forms  of  mental  stimulus  and  diversion. 

The  decline  of  the  literary  salons  dates  from  the  same 
period,  that  is  to  say,  from  the  commencement  of  the  Third 
Republic.  There  being  no  longer  a  society  intensely  in- 
terested in  literature  and  taking  its  pleasure  in  literary 
discussions,  hostesses  gathered  about  them  mere  collections 
of  people  to  play  Bridge,  which  is  the  negation  of  conver- 
sation, or  to  discuss  pictorial  art  and  automobiling,  neither 
of  which  makes  a  large  demand  upon  general  ideas.  A 
great  extension  of  exhibitions  of  painting  and  sculpture 
and  every  form  of  spectacle  making  an  appeal  to  the  eye, 
followed  the  downfall  of  the  book.  The  hurry  and  multi- 
tudinous occupations  of  the  age  have  also  reduced  the 
leisure  of  the  reading  class,  with  the  result  that  the  stage 
has  become  the  great  medium  of  enlightenment,  just  as 
the  picture  salons  have  become  the  popular  educators  of 
the  eye.  This  influence  has  been  felt  by  "  lettres  "  such  as 
M.  Ren^  Doumic  and  M.  Jules  Lemaitre,  who  have  been 
forced  to  arrange  their  "  conferences  "  for  those  with  little 
culture.  But  this  symptom  is  by  no  means  singular  to 
France,  where  the  literary  ^lite  has,  perhaps,  adapted  itself 
more  gracefully  than  elsewhere  to  the  new  conditions. 
Ideas  must  be  conveyed  to  the  public  "  a  coup  de  crayon," 
with  the  flash  of  the  impressionist. 

The  importance  of  the  theatre  in  Paris  is  seen  in  the 
attention  given  to  it  by  the  Press.  Columns  are  devoted 
every  day,  in  the  form  of  echoes,  interviews  or  critiques,  to 
stage  problems,  plays  and  players.  The  book,  on  the 
contrary,  has  no  reviews  worthy  of  the  name.  A  dark 
mystery  hangs  over  the  publication  of  a  new  work,  as  if 
the  powers  were  leagued  to  prevent  the  public  from  buying 
it.     This  aphasia  is  partly  due  to  the  effulgence  of  Press 


THE  STAGE  AND   ITS   PROBLEMS  241 

reviews  in  the  past,  which  brought  about  its  own  condem- 
nation. A  "  chef  d'oeuvre "  does  not  appear  every  day 
on  the  bookstalls,  though  these  too  friendly  critics  would 
have  us  believe  so. 

Actors  and  actresses  have  benefited  from  the  progress 
made  in  the  appreciation  of  their  art,  yet  it  remains  true  that 
no  actor  or  actress  penetrates  to  the  high  places  of  Parisian 
society.  This  is  due  to  the  old  prejudices  surrounding  the 
stage,  which  have  not  yet  been  obliterated  in  that  strong- 
hold of  caste,  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain.  Nothing  sur- 
prises the  Parisian  artist  more  than  the  social  position 
usually  accorded  to  prominent  members  of  the  profession 
in  England.  And  yet,  from  the  point  of  view  of  pro- 
fessional education,  the  French  stage  is  more  analogous  to 
the  learned  professions  than  it  is  in  England,  where  an 
actor's  training  is  quite  haphazard  and  mainly  derived 
from  provincial  tours.  Neither  diction  nor  the  technique 
of  his  art  is  taught  him.  In  consequence  of  the  insistence 
on  early  training,  the  general  level  of  acting  is  infinitely 
higher  in  France  than  in  the  so-called  Anglo-Saxon 
countries.  The  strange  affectations  of  speech  adopted  by 
the  British  actor  to  underline  his  meaning  would  never  be 
tolerated  by  the  meanest  theatre  in  France,  where  natural- 
ness of  voice  and  gesture  is  a  "  sine  qua  non." 

Just  as  the  interpretation  is  better,  so  is  the  art  of  the 
dramatist.  This  is  not  so  much  due  to  any  inherent 
superiority  in  French  dramatic  methods  as  in  the  greater 
freedom  allowed,  in  the  intelligence  of  the  acting  and  the 
sympathetic  attitude  of  the  public  towards  manifestations 
of  art.  Mr.  Galsworthy's  "Justice,"  for  instance,  could  be 
compared  with  the  finest  work  of  Henry  Bataille,  just  as 
Mr.  J.  M.  Barrie's  "  What  Every  Woman  Knows  "  would 
rank  in  subtlety  and  psychology  with  the  plays  of  Paul 
Hervieu  or  Henri  Lavedan.  A  wider  field  for  treatment 
16 


242  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

and  a  keener  public  sentiment  are  merely  needed  to  re- 
inforce the  British  stage  and  bring  it  intellectually  to  the 
level  of  the  French.  A  good  deal  of  cant  has  been  talked, 
especially  in  articles  in  French  publications,  on  the  de- 
cadence of  the  British  stage,  but  those  critics  who  deride — 
and,  no  doubt,  justly — the  "leg  pieces"  so  popular  in 
London,  as  the  very  antithesis  of  art,  are  apt  to  forget 
that  it  is  a  case  of  the  pot  calling  the  kettle  black. 
Nothing  could  be  less  pleasing,  aesthetically,  or  more 
repugnant  from  the  standpoint  of  decency,  than  the 
ordinary  French  cafe-concert.  There  is  infinitely  more  art 
in  the  English  music-hall. 

Restrictions  act  upon  the  drama  in  England,  as  the  Loco- 
motive (Roads)  Act  did  upon  the  construction  of  motor- 
cars. The  man  with  the  red  flag  is  always  present  on  the 
English  stage — in  musical  comedy  he  becomes,  suddenly, 
blind  in  one  eye — and  the  dramatic  pace  is  limited  to  his 
pedestrian  gait.  Other  nations  have  passed  us  in  the 
race.  We  are  still  in  leading-strings,  whilst,  in  intellectu- 
ally freer  communities,  the  dramatist  with  his  battle-axe 
is  thumping  on  the  door  of  "  social  subjects." 

There  is  a  direction  in  which  British  dramatic  art  is  far 
ahead.  The  children's  play  is  practically  unknown  in 
France,  and  yet  the  young  generation  has  a  right  to 
representation  in  the  theatre.  One  reason  why  there  is 
no  children's  drama  is  that  there  are  no  children — between 
the  ages  of  the  hoop  and  second  childhood.  The  crudities 
of  Polichinelle  are  too  much  for  the  budding  sensibility  and 
critical  sense  of  the  young  maiden  of  six  or  seven.  Even 
her  brother,  a  few  years  older,  is  not  impressed,  and  the 
little  boy  is  never  quite  as  precocious  as  the  little  girl  of 
the  same  age.  Plays  for  children  given  at  the  spas  and 
seaside  are  serious  dramatic  compositions,  having  nothing 
in  common  with  "  Peter  Pan."     The  French  child  early 


THE  STAGE  AND   ITS   PROBLEMS  243 

throws  away  a  belief  in  fairies.  Even  the  Bonhomme 
Noel  scarcely  survives  a  very  tender  age,  though  he  has 
his  uses  as  a  present-giver.  The  infant  being  exhorted  to 
good  behaviour  is  addressed  in  such  locutions  as  "Sois 
sage  "  ("  be  a  philosopher  "),  "  sois  raisonnable "  ("  be 
reasonable  ").  There  is  always  an  appeal  to  the  intellect. 
If  this  does  not  suffice,  then,  as  Mile  Claire  de  Pratz 
reminds  us,  in  one  of  her  novels,  the  vision  of  the  mother 
is  conjured  up  by  the  words :  "  Tu  fais  de  la  peine  a  ta 
mere." 

Too  much  liberty  may  degenerate  into  licence,  and  the 
stage  in  France  sometimes  suffers  from  that  reproach. 
There  is  no  explanation  but  pruriency  or  a  morbid  taste 
for  some  of  the  subjects  discussed.  This  unfortunate 
tendency  to  pander  to  unwholesome  desire  has  been  very 
marked  of  late  years  and  provides  the  reverse  side  of  the 
medal.  Yet  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel  that  a  great  avenue 
for  free  expansion  exists  in  this  institution  of  an  untram- 
melled theatre.  Dramatists  in  the  forward  rank  have 
acquired  the  right  to  be  regarded  as  serious  reformers. 
Eugene  Brieux  had  a  place  on  the  Extra-Parliamentary 
Commission  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  depopulation, 
Paul  Hervieu  sat  on  a  Committee  to  reform  the  Marriage 
Code.  These  are  signs  of  the  times.  The  Press  and  thei^ 
Stage  are  two  weapons  of  government  in  France  to-day. 

Plays  have  given  rise  to  riots  for  political  and  other 
causes.  A  struggle  between  the  Romanticists  and  the 
followers  of  the  Classical  school  accompanied  the  pro- 
duction of  Victor  Hugo's  "Hernani"  at  the  Comedie 
Frangaise  ;  and,  again,  there  was  considerable  agitation 
when  "Thermidor"  by  Victorien  Sardou,  was  interdicted 
by  the  Prefect  of  Paris  because  of  its  satire  on  leaders 
of  the  Revolution.  "Rabagas,"  by  the  same  author, 
was   also  objected  to  on  the  ground   that    it   scoffed  at 


244  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

Gambetta.  In  quite  recent  times,  "  Le  retour  de  Jeru- 
salem "  provoked  anti-Semitic  opposition  because  of  its 
Jewish  atmosphere.  Again,  "Apres  Moi,"  by  Henry  Bern- 
stein, produced  at  the  Comedie  Frangaise  in  the  early  part 
of  191 1,  had  to  be  withdrawn  on  account  of  the  violent 
manifestations  by  the  Camelots  du  Roi  or  Royal  Society, 
who  objected  that  the  author,  besides  belonging  to  the 
hated  race,  had  deserted  when  a  youth  from  the  army. 
Though  he  made  reparation  by  rejoining  the  colours,  the 
fact  of  his  desertion  was  held  to  justify  a  violent  outbreak 
against  the  Hebrews.  Sardou's  "  Sorciere,"  when  played 
by  Sarah  Bernhardt,  with  all  her  emotional  power,  aroused, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  passion  of  the  Anti-Clericals,  as  it 
depicts  the  Inquisition  in  full  working  order.  Happily, 
the  "  Entente  Cordiale  "  is  too  solidly  grounded  to  be  dis- 
turbed by  the  exposure  of  English  intrigue  in  "  Le  Proces 
de  Jeanne  d'Arc,"  in  which  La  Grande  Sarah  gives  so 
interesting  a  rendering  of  the  Maid. 

The  different  phases  of  society  are  faithfully  reflected  in 
the  stage.  There  is  a  vast  difference,  say,  between  the 
Comedie  Frangaise  and  the  Comedie  Royale.  They  are 
at  the  opposite  poles  of  theatrical  representation,  corre- 
sponding to  the  infinite  degrees  of  French  society  and 
thought.  In  the  National  Theatre  you  have  the  classic 
traditions  of  the  French  stage,  together  with  a  repertoire 
that  includes  the  chefs  d'oeuvre  of  Racine,  of  Corneille 
and  Moliere.  The  Comedie  Royale  represents,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  light  grace  of  French  comedy,  the  "  esprit 
gaulois."  Dialogue  and  situation  are  bright  and  amusing, 
instinct  with  the  vivacity  of  the  French.  The  atmosphere 
is  intimate,  as  if  the  comedies  or  "  revue  "  were  being  played 
in  a  salon,  before  an  audience  composed  of  friends.  Each 
theatre  has  its  character  clearly  marked  from  the  rest. 
The  Sarah  Bernhardt  is  consecrated  to  the  genius  of  the 


•     ••••«      •  • 


•  - J  -  *  •••  • 


SARAH   BERNHARDT 


THE  STAGE   AND   ITS   PROBLEMS  245 

great  tragedienne,  who  is  still  the  first  actress  in  the  world. 
The  Vaudeville  seems  to  have  lost  ground  since  Rejane 
departed  to  found  her  own  theatre  in  the  Rue  Blanche, 
the  most  charming  and  prettily  arranged  playhouse  in 
Paris;  but  it  has  produced  some  notable  plays  of  late 
years,  such  as  "  Le  Divorce  "  of  Paul  Bourget,  "  La  Barri- 
cade "  and  "  Le  Tribun,"  by  the  same  author.  In  the 
former  play,  the  novelist,  who  is  now,  apparently,  resolved 
to  conquer  the  stage,  places  in  opposition  the  two  theses 
in  regard  to  marriage  :  its  indissolubility,  the  attitude  of  the 
Church,  and  the  other  view  that  it  is  a  social  contract, 
which  can  be  determined,  like  any  other  contract,  at  the 
will  of  the  parties.  In  "  La  Barricade  "  he  has,  also,  a 
serious  problem  to  discuss :  the  position  of  capital  and 
labour.  The  play  gives  an  unenviable  picture  of  the 
demagogue,  but  an  appeal  to  the  Bourgeoisie  to  defend 
its  inheritance  by  a  display  of  energy  and  cohesion  rings 
like  a  clarion  note  through  the  piece.  The  Renaissance  is 
one  of  the  most  vital  theatres  of  Paris.  Some  of  the 
strongest  of  social  comedies  have  been  staged  there  of 
late  years,  particularly  during  the  tenure  of  M.  Guitry, 
whose  impersonations  are  always  marked  with  great 
strength.  Here  were  produced  :  "  La  Rafale  "  and  "  Le 
Voleur,"  by  M.  Henri  Bernstein,  both  of  them  distinguished 
for  the  intensity  of  their  situations.  In  "  Samson,"  by  the 
same  author,  M.  Guitry  gave  a  striking  picture  of  the  self- 
made  man  under  the  strong  emotion  of  a  thwarted  love 
passion.  The  actor,  who  is,  probably,  the  most  talented 
in  Paris  to-day,  has  made  his  greatest  success  in  another 
Bernstein  play,  "  La  Grifife,"  which,  apart  from  its  merits 
as  the  work  of  a  young  man  of  twenty,  is  noteworthy  for 
a  last  act  which  shows  the  downfall  of  an  old  statesman, 
under  the  weight  of  political  scandal.  In  his  delineation 
of  the  "  debacle,"  Guitry  recalls,  both  in  his  acting  and  in 


246  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

his  appearance,  Irving  in  "  The  Bells."  With  M.  Guitry's 
success  in  Bernstein  impersonations,  we  must  associate 
Mme  Simone,  certainly  one  of  the  most  gifted  actresses  in 
Paris.  The  traditions  of  the  Renaissance  are  now  being 
carried  on  by  Abel  Tarride  (the  Sir  Charles  Wyndham  of 
the  French  stage)  and  a  company  which,  until  recently, 
included  Mile  Marthe  Regnier  and  Mile  Marthe  Brandes. 

The  Gymnase,  also,  produces  modern  comedy.  Bataille's 
"La  Vierge  Folle,"  (the  Foolish  Virgin)  is  the  best  example 
of  that  clever  writer's  talent.  The  moral  tendencies  of  the 
play  (which  seems  to  give  a  sanction  to  the  "  fugue  "  of  a 
man  of  forty  with  a  young  society  girl)  may  be  disputed, 
but  not  its  palpitating  character.  Bataille  has  the  Ibsen 
faculty  of  conveying  the  sensation  of  impending  catastrophe, 
as  well  as  the  suggestion  that  his  subjects  have  lived  before 
and  are  merely  continuing  their  existence  on  the  stage. 
Bataille,  like  the  other  "  strong  men  "  of  the  French  stage, 
Bernstein,  Brieux  and  Mirbeau,  is  for  ever  prodding  at 
conventions  and  examining  ruthlessly  into  the  most  hoary 
and  hallowed  traditions. 

Octave  Mirbeau  has  something  of  Zola's  mordant  power 
and  strength  of  depicting  humanity  at  its  worst.  There  is 
the  same  iconoclasm,  the  same  pessimism  in  them  both. 
In  "Les  Affaires  sont  les  Affaires"  ("Business  is  Business") 
Mirbeau  preaches,  with  crushing  force,  on  the  text  of  "  the 
root  of  all  evil."  In  "  Le  Foyer  "  he  gives  a  painful  and, 
no  doubt,  exaggerated  picture  of  a  senator  and  member 
of  the  Academy,  who  proves  to  be  an  utter  scoundrel. 
Octave  Mirbeau  is  the  most  relentless  of  the  modern 
dramatists.  His  types  have  a  quality  of  villainy  not 
possessed  by  any  others.  Brieux,  on  the  contrary,  has  the 
temper  of  an  apostle.  If,  like  Peter  the  Hermit,  he  calls  a 
crusade,  it  is  with  some  hope  of  attaining  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre.   But  Mirbeau  is  content  to  show  us  the  place  of  skulls. 


THE   STAGE   AND   ITS   PROBLEMS  247 

It  is  a  difference  of  temperament,  perhaps,  rather  than  a 
divergence  of  aim. 

No  greater  contrast  could  be  imagined  between  the 
poignant  emotionalism  of  this  school,  and  the  theatre  of 
Rostand.  Arriving  at  a  moment  when  the  world  wearied 
of  the  sordid  realism  of  Zola  and  his  imitators,  when  Dumas 
fils  was  dead  and  Victorien  Sardou  "  vieux  jeu,"  Edmond 
Rostand  obtained  instant  recognition  with  his  romantic 
plays  in  verse.  His  "Cyrano  de  Bergerac"  is  a  master- 
piece, which  struck  the  full  note  of  national  life,  uplifting 
the  theatre  to  the  heroic  level,  inspiring  to  fine  deeds, 
evoking  the  glory  and  panoply  of  old  France.  When,  after 
years  of  expectancy,  "  Chantecler  "  was  produced,  it  is  little 
wonder  that  it  failed  to  provoke  the  profound  impression 
of  genius  awakened  by  "  Cyrano."  "  Chefs  d'oeuvre  "  rarely 
repeat  themselves.  But  if  it  was  lacking  in  its  dramatic 
qualities,  it  shone  as  an  astonishing  piece  of  literary 
legerdemain.  It  was  a  real  "  tour  de  force,"  only  possible 
by  a  man  having  the  verbal  resources  and  ingenuity  of  an 
Aristophanes.  Where  Rostand  lags  behind  the  Greek 
satirist  is  in  knowledge  of  the  dramatic  situation.  Rostand 
represents  the  revolt  from  naturalism ;  excesses  in  one 
direction  always  bring  about  reaction.  This  brilliant  poet- 
dramatist  knows  how  to  speak  to  the  heart  of  France,  to 
conjure  up  the  picture  of  rustling  gallants,  to  fill  the  world 
again  with  brave  spirits.  He  represents  the  old  time  and 
tradition,  the  chivalry  of  other  days.  Contrast  his  proud 
figure  of  Chantecler,  gripping  the  soil  of  France  in  his 
claws  (symbol  of  the  peasant  and  his  attachment  to  the 
land)  with  those  sordid,  soulless  creatures,  who  people  the 
pages  of  "  La  Terre."  This  explains  the  vogue  of  Ros- 
tand, apart  from  the  beauty  and  inspiration  of  his  work : 
the  feeling  that  he  speaks  in  the  name  of  France,  and  en- 
shrines in  his  heroes,  whether  Cyrano  or  the  Coq,  something 


248  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

of  the  past  glory  of  Gaul.  Chantecler  is  the  Gallic  Coq, 
the  embodiment  of  a  nation's  pride,  and  the  incarnation, 
also,  of  a  nation's  failings.  France  has  expected  the  dawn 
of  liberty  to  rise  at  the  trumpet  call  of  her  Revolution. 

Coquelin  aine,  the  last  of  the  great  romantic  actors  of 
France,  was  cast  for  the  role  of  Chantecler  ;  indeed,  the 
play  seems  to  have  been  written  round  his  personality. 
But  it  was  not  to  be,  and  the  sonorous-voiced  comedian 
passed  to  the  Great  Beyond  before  the  play  was  in  a 
condition  to  be  produced. 

The  type  of  good  French  comedy  is  presented  by  Alfred 
Capus.  Always  excellently  written,  his  plays  please  be- 
cause of  the  sympathetic  development  of  the  characters, 
their  genuine  sentiment  and  the  fact  that  "  tout  s'arrange  " 
before  the  fall  of  the  curtain.  Capus  comedy  is  sound  and 
wholesome  and  in  the  best  style  of  the  French  stage. 

Maurice  Donnay's  career  provides  an  unusual  element  of 
romance.  Twenty  years  ago,  he  was  a  "  chansonnier  "  of 
Montmartre,  composing  verse,  to  order,  for  the  patrons  of 
the  "  Chat  Noir."  One  night  he  left  the  famous  cabaret, 
and,  descending  the  slippery  sides  of  the  Butte,  arrived  at 
the  Boulevards,  where  he  left  a  play  with  the  manager  of  a 
theatre.  That  play  was  a  French  version  of  "  Lysistrata  " 
of  Aristophanes,  and  gave  an  amusing  modern  rendering 
of  the  revolt  of  the  wives  and  sweethearts  against  the 
neglect  of  their  warrior  lords.  To-day,  Maurice  Donnay 
is  a  member  of  the  Academie  Frangaise,  has  the  "entree" 
to  the  "Comedie,"  and  is  noted  for  plays  that  paint  Parisian 
life  with  a  delicate,  suggestive  brush. 

Francis  de  Croisset  is  one  of  a  number  of  young  men, 
who  present  the  very  light  side  of  Parisian  drama,  and  have 
the  ability  to  say  the  "  risque  "  thing  with  an  air  of  inno- 
cence and  detachment.  There  is  no  language  that  lends  it- 
self with  greater  grace  to  such  employment  than  the  French. 


THE  STAGE  AND   ITS   PROBLEMS  249 

Despite  the  critics,  and  they  are  many,  the  Comedie 
Frangaise  maintains  its  premier  position.  It  is  still  the 
best  all-round  theatre,  notwithstanding  the  competition  of 
brilliant  playhouses  along  the  Boulevards.  This  superi- 
ority comes  from  the  continuity  of  training  and  tradition 
rendered  possible  in  a  State-aided  institution.  No  private 
enterprise,  subject  to  varying  conditions  of  management 
and  financial  resources,  can  maintain  the  same  permanent 
level  of  excellence.  It  is  possible  to  find  as  talented  a 
troupe,  but,  nowhere  else,  is  there  that  nice  attention  to 
detail  which  marks  the  productions  of  the  "  Maison  de 
Moliere."  Yet  it  is  permissible,  of  course,  to  object  to  per- 
fection of  finish  on  the  ground  that  it  destroys  the  value  of 
the  picture  by  placing  the  merely  secondary  in  undue  relief 
The  National  Theatre  has  the  advantage  of  the  resources  of 
the  Conservatoire  and,  also,  of  the  education  that  a  classical 
repertoire  gives  in  developing  the  talent  of  the  actor. 
Mmes  Bartet  and  Cecile  Sorel,  Mounet-Sully,  the  doyen ; 
Le  Bargy,  de  Feraudy,  Georges  Berr,  and  the  other 
members  of  the  company  uphold  the  traditions  of  a  house, 
which  numbers  among  its  illustrious  children  :  Talma,  and 
Got,  Rachel,  Sarah  Bernhardt  and  Coquelin,  though  the 
last  two  achieved  their  greatest  reputation  outside. 

Some  of  the  regulations  binding  members  are  Draconian 
in  their  severity  and  bear  the  impress  of  Napoleon,  who 
signed  the  famous  "  decree  of  Moscow,"  which  is  the  charter 
of  "  societaires  "  and  "  pensionnaires."  In  one  respect  this 
theatre,  which  dates  from  the  days  of  the  Roi  Soleil,  is 
quite  modern.  There  is  a  system  of  profit-sharing  in  vogue, 
which  establishes  the  material  difference  between  "  socie- 
taires "  and  "  pensionnaires." 

Amongst  the  "  theatres  a  cote  "  of  Paris,  the  best-known 
is  the  Grand  Guignol,  which  is  celebrated  for  its  horrors. 
It  is  probably  responsible  for  more  nightmares  than  any 


250        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

theatre  in  the  world.  The  most  sensational  of  its  recent 
plays  was  "  En  Plongee,"  which  gave  a  remarkable  picture 
of  a  submarine  and  the  terror  that  exists  aboard,  when  it 
is  realized  that  the  commander,  a  morphino-maniac,  has 
neglected  to  take  proper  precautions  and  is  casting  away 
his  ship. 

The  "  Capucines  "  and  the  Theatre  Michel  are  band-box 
playhouses,  which  enshrine  the  gaiety  and  wit  of  the 
Boulevardier,  and  are  extraordinarily  clever  in  their  reviews 
and  playlets. 

The  French  theatre  is  incomparable  in  technique  and  in 
the  artistic  construction  of  its  plays.  The  rank  and  file  of 
the  stage  exhibit  a  finish  in  their  work  unknown  in 
England,  except  amongst  the  first  flight.  But,  structurally 
considered,  most  of  the  French  playhouses  are  dusty  and 
incommodious  and  would  prove  terrible  death-traps  in  case 
of  a  panic.  It  is  a  tribute  to  the  acting  that  people  go  to 
the  theatre  at  all,  for,  to  the  inconvenience  of  the  seating 
arrangements,  is  added  the  extortion  of  the  attendants. 
Yet,  with  all  its  physical  disadvantages,  the  theatre  is  the 
most  permanent  and,  at  the  same  time,  varied  intellectual 
entertainment  that  Paris  provides.  And  it  is,  certainly, 
one  of  the  most  characteristic  of  French  industries:  brilliant 
and  full  of  racial  temperament. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE   PRESS   AND   PUBLIC   OPINION 

IF  you  judge  the  Press  to  be  an  organ  for  your  en- 
lightenment and  your  political  instruction — and 
little  more — then  I  can  imagine  your  gratitude  to 
the  British  institution,  which  is  still,  in  many  respects,  the 
best  Press  in  the  world ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  you  regard 
the  newspaper  as  a  vehicle  for  amusement,  and  for  the 
satisfaction  of  a  curiosity  more  or  less  legitimate,  you  will 
surely  find  the  ideal  in  the  ephemeral  literature  of  |the 
Boulevards.  Nothing  more  sprightly,  more  uniformly 
entertaining,  exists  in  the  world  of  the  printing  press.  It 
may  be  that  the  Briton  takes  his  politics  a  little  too 
seriously,  that  the  ponderous  affectations  of  his  Parlia- 
mentarians should  be  treated  with  a  little  more  imagina- 
tion and  with  a  little  of  the  laughter  of  the  gods.  But 
there  is,  obviously,  the  other  extreme :  the  "  esprit  mo- 
queur,"  that  dangerous  Parisian  quality  which  is  death  to 
so  many  efforts  at  reform.  The  versatility  and  brilliance 
of  the  Press  are  its  own  condemnation.  It  insists  on  the 
paradox,  on  the  light  view,  on  poking  fun,  on  a  fatal 
levity  about  serious  subjects.  And  yet,  admit  it,  O  tra- 
velled Englishman  !  a  course  of  reading  of  the  Paris  Press 
is  very  unsettling  for  the  more  sober  diet  of  Fleet  Street. 
In  every  corner  of  the  sheet  is  the  perfectly  turned  sen- 
tence. Even  the  puff  paragraph,  that  bane  of  the  reader, 
is  composed  with  an  insidious  art  and  speciousness  that 

251 


252  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

compel  attention.  We  are  but  human  (even  the  youngest 
and  most  wide-awake  of  us),  and  when  that  paragraph 
begins  with  a  nicely  turned  allusion  to  some  historical 
event  we  are  tempted  to  read  further,  only  to  tumble 
into  the  abyss  of  the  paid  "reclame."  It  is,  certainly, 
very  ingeniously  done.  "  Non  bis  in  idem  "  does  not  seem 
to  have  any  application  to  the  case,  for,  to-morrow,  we 
shall,  assuredly,  fall  into  the  same  gilded  trap.  Perhaps, 
the  Paris  world  loves  being  humbugged.  In  any  case, 
advertising  as  we  know  it  in  England — "  in  plain  figures," 
as  you  may  say,  though  this  is  no  longer  entirely  true — 
has  little  effect  upon  the  French  purchaser.  He,  or  rather 
she,  must  have  her  palate  tickled  by  fine  phrases.  One 
grows  accustomed  to  the  hyperbolic  announcements  of  the 
theatrical  column,  where  every  piece  is  a  "  chef  d'cevure," 
and  every  little  actress  a  Rachel  or  a  Sarah  Bernhardt. 
Notwithstanding  the  daily  recurrence  of  this  literary  ex- 
travagance, in  the  name  of  commerce,  it  is  somewhat 
startling  to  find  a  column  on  the  front  page  of  a  literary 
paper  of  acknowledged  position  given  up  to  an  account, 
beautifully  embellished  with  epigrams,  of  the  opening  of 
a  dressmaker's  establishment.  But  it  is  the  custom  of  the 
country,  and,  no  doubt,  Paris  has  the  Press  it  deserves  and 
wants  to  have. 

In  the  sense  of  reflecting  the  national  life,  the  Press, 
like  the  theatre,  holds  up  a  mirror  to  nature.  It  is  a  faith- 
ful reproduction  of  the  defects  and  qualities  of  the  French 
character.  If  we  come  to  a  more  intimate  consideration 
of  morals  and  manners,  shall  we  find  as  high  a  standard 
of  journalistic  methods  on  this  side,  as  on  the  other,  of 
the  Channel  ?  It  is  dangerous  to  launch  into  generalities, 
and,  moreover,  I  have  treated  of  comparative  morality  in 
an  earlier  chapter  of  this  book ;  at  the  same  time,  it  is 
necessary  here  to  say  that  the  independence  of  the  better 


THE  PRESS  AND   PUBLIC  OPINION  253 

class  of  English  organ — an  independence  often  in  the 
face  of  financial  pressure — is  not  a  general  characteristic 
of  Paris  contemporaries.  This  apparent  inferiority  arises 
from  difference  in  conception  of  the  journalistic  mission. 
Rightly  or  wrongly,  the  conductor  of  an  English  journal 
is  convinced  that  the  world  is  waiting  for  his  opinion,  that 
he  must  weigh  it  carefully  and  deliver  it  truly.  His 
Parisian  "  confrere  "  has  not  the  same  happy  illusions ;  in 
any  case,  he  takes  a  lighter  view  of  his  responsibilities. 
This  colours  the  whole  of  his  work.  It  makes  him  in- 
finitely more  readable  and  infinitely  less  reliable.  And 
yet  I  have  come  across  a  perfectly  true  piece  of  informa- 
tion, even  in  the  French  Press. 

There  is  little  comparison  between  the  literary  excel- 
lencies of  the  two  systems,  the  British  and  the  French. 
The  meanest  paragraph  in  the  Parisian  paper  is  turned 
with  an  airy  grace,  which  makes  the  efforts  of  its  British 
contemporary  seem  elephantine.  Take  only  one  depart- 
ment of  newspaper  work :  the  "  faits  divers,"  or,  as  we 
should  say,  the  police-court  column.  The  adventures  of 
the  "  grisette,"  which  have  ended  disastrously ;  the  "  beau 
jeune  homme,"  who  has  gone  forth  to  conquer  and  has 
succeeded  better  than  he  anticipated ;  the  dark  deeds  of 
a  band  of  Apaches ;  the  strange  story  of  an  English  lord 
— are  not  all  these  things  told  in  the  chronicles  of  the  Boule- 
vards, with  a  dramatic  sense  and  an  eye  for  form,  which 
are  often  absent  from  the  narrative  of  the  English  scribe  ? 
A  past  master  in  this  very  human  sort  of  journalism  was 
one  Arthur  Dupin,  who  was  the  "  crime  specialist "  of  the 
"  Journal."  To  him  is  due  the  picturesque  name  of  Apache, 
given  to  the  Paris  footpad,  which  has  cast  an  altogether 
undeserved  aureole  over  his  sordid  achievements.  Dupin's 
art  was  great  in  "  reconstituting  "  a  drama  for  the  benefit 
of  his  readers.     There  was  a  realism  in  it  that  was  almost 


2  54  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

frightening,  and  would  not  have  disgraced  the  "Grand 
Guignol."  Every  Paris  organ  of  information  has  its 
"  writer-up  "  of  crime,  and  reading  of  the  sort,  to  the  sus- 
ceptible person,  must  inspire  many  a  bad  dream.  This 
"etalage"  of  lurid  or  highly  spiced  details  becomes  less 
humorous  when  one  considers  its  effect  upon  the  young 
and  the  half-educated.  The  hero-worship  of  the  suc- 
cessful bank-forger,  the  morbid  curiosity  that  is  aroused 
by  the  publication  of  sensational  murders,  has  led  many 
a  young  man  to  the  penal  colonies  or  the  guillotine. 

The  lack  of  reticence  is,  from  the  English  point  of  view, 
a  regrettable  feature  of  Paris  journalism,  but  that  same 
readiness  to  "dire  tout"  is,  of  course,  responsible  for  a 
variety  and  freshness  of  outlook  and  comment,  which  add 
immeasurably  to  the  pleasure  of  perusal,  if  the  reader  can 
relieve  his  mind  of  all  thought  of  the  social  consequences. 
"  Indiscretions  "  make  the  Paris  Press  desperately  human 
and  entertaining — and  good  government  sometimes  impos- 
sible. Amid  many  professions  of  patriotism  and  much 
waving  of  the  Tricolor,  the  journals  of  "largest  circula- 
tion" are  not  unwilling  to  open  their  columns  to  infor- 
mation, which,  in  England  at  all  events,  would  be  treated 
as  a  secret  only  to  be  whispered  in  the  secluded  places  of 
politics.  "  Cotton-wool  "  writing  and  "  reading  between 
the  lines  "  are  thus  quite  unnecessary  pieces  of  ingenuity. 
One  reason,  perhaps,  why  liberty  has  a  tendency  to 
descend  to  licence  is  because  the  liberty  is  recent.  In  the 
days  of  the  Empire,  the  Press  was  kept  in  leading  strings, 
and  woe  betide  the  "pamphleteer"  who  offended  against 
the  Tuileries.  The  explosive  spirit  is  now  taking  its 
revenge. 

The  Parisian  is  "  moqueur,"  sceptical,  and  all  that;  so  are 
his  publicists.  To  the  Boulevardier  nothing  is  sacred.  He 
is   ready   to   "thee   and   thou"   an   Emperor,   to  slap   a 


THE   PRESS   AND   PUBLIC   OPINION  255 

Minister  on  the  back.  The  ample  proportions  of  M. 
Fallieres  are  the  constant  subject  of  jest  in  the  evening 
and  weekly  Press,  and  no  day  passes  without  a  barbed 
personal  pleasantry  being  directed  to  some  one  in  authority. 
This  lack  of  respect  for  the  powers  marks  one  of  the  great 
differences  in  the  Latin  and  Anglo-Saxon  temperaments. 
Until  Mr.  Lloyd  George  (and  is  he  not  a  Celt?)  set  the 
fashion,  one  had  to  go  back  to  the  eighteenth  century  in 
England  to  find  examples  of  the  lampooning  spirit,  which 
is  the  daily  joy  of  the  Boulevardier  and  the  inspiration  of 
those  who  minister  to  his  amusement.  The  leading 
article  enshrines  the  soul  of  the  paper.  In  France  it  has 
come  to  be  a  wispish  and  waspish  thing  of  thirty  lines  or 
so.  The  writer  has  either  a  "  serpent's  tongue  "  or  a  very 
pretty  wit — according  to  circumstances.  The  late  Henri 
Harduin  was  celebrated  for  his  leaderettes  in  the  "  Matin." 
They  were  models  of  conciseness,  betraying  a  keen  sense 
of  humour  and  of  a  robust  good  sense.  It  could  only  be 
objected  that  he  was  somewhat  materialistic  in  his  treat- 
ment of  lofty  matters.  Since  his  day  nearly  every  paper 
has  adopted  short  articles  to  express  its  editorial  opinion. 
They  are  usually  pungent,  and,  in  some  cases,  consistently 
amusing.  It  is  an  agreeable  relief  to  turn  to  one  of  these 
sprightly  effusions  after  contact,  say,  with  the  ordinary 
British  "  leader,"  which  is  as  indigestible — if  one  excepts 
the  evening  Press  in  London — as  a  hard-boiled  pudding. 
It  is  curious  that  whilst  great  progress  has  been  made  in 
the  intelligent  arrangement  and  reporting  of  news,  the 
gentleman  who  sits  down  at  nine  o'clock  at  night  with  a 
quill  pen,  to  manufacture  British  opinion,  appears  to  be 
unconscious  that  the  world  has  moved  since  quill  pens 
were  invented.  He  is  still  as  prodigiously  plodding  and 
platitudinous  as  ever.  Nor  can  it  be  otherwise  considering 
the  conditions  under  which  he  is  required  to  work.     What 


256  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

are  "  opinions  "  worth  upon  a  speech  which  is  in  process 
of  being  delivered  ?  This  outburst  is  prompted  by  long- 
suffering.  There  is  something  exasperating  in  the 
"  cliche "  which  heralds,  say,  a  "  moral  victory " — O 
horrible  expression — at  a  by-election. 

But  in  France  the  long  and  lonely  leader  is  abolished. 
In  its  place  is  an  extraordinarily  interesting  feature. 
Prominent  men  contribute  to  the  leading  newspapers 
articles  over  their  own  signature  upon  matters  of  which 
they  have  first-hand  cognizance.  The  result  is  a  great 
addition  to  popular  knowledge  of  scientific  and  other 
subjects.  The  astronomer  Flammarion  is  a  constant 
contributor  to  the  Press.  Academicians  write  with  charm- 
ing simplicity  upon  all  sorts  of  learned  topics.  To  read 
the  "  article  de  fond  "  of  the  "  Figaro  "  is  a  liberal  educa- 
tion. It  is  contributed  by  quite  a  number  of  "sommit^s." 
Marcel  Pr6vost  writes,  in  his  delicate  and  allusive  style,  of 
"  The  Feminine  Letter,"  revealing  the  mysteries  of  my 
lady's  heart,  when  she  takes  pen  in  hand.  Capus  will 
examine  some  problem  of  the  theatre  with  consummate 
art ;  Abel  Bonnard  treats  delightfully  of  a  phase  of 
Parisian  life ;  Georges  Cain  evokes  old  Paris  with  an 
infinite  charm ;  "  Foemina "  will  probe,  with  silvern  pen, 
into  human  sensibility,  an  explorer  in  the  by-paths  of 
psychology.  Contrast  articles  of  this  sort,  fresh  and 
topical  as  they  always  are,  with  the  hackneyed :  "  In 
reviewing  the  events  of  last  night  (or  last  month),  we  are 
once  more  convinced  .  .  ." 

Both  the  "  Journal "  and  the  "  Matin  "  print  excellent 
"  articles  de  fond."  The  statistician  Dr.  Jacques  Bertillon 
writes  frequently  for  the  former,  and,  also,  Gabriel  Hano- 
taux,  who  is  a  former  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs.  His 
articles  on  foreign  politics  are  not  only  the  fruit  of  sound 
knowledge,  but  are  conveyed  in  a  language  which  is  re- 


THE   PRESS  AND   PUBLIC  OPINION  257 

markably  picturesque.  In  the  "  Matin "  the  politician 
provides  a  frequent  dish.  Camille  Pelletan,  though  an 
execrable  Minister,  is  a  brilliant  journalist,  and  he  handles 
subjects  of  the  day  with  great  lucidity.  The  different 
Reporters  on  the  Parliamentary  Commissions,  also,  take 
the  public  into  their  confidence,  through  the  medium  of 
this  enterprising  journal.  If  one  has  to  pay  more  for  one's 
taxes,  it  is  some  satisfaction  to  know  the  reason  from  an 
authoritative  pen. 

A  large  part  of  this  chapter  might  profitably  discuss  the 
close  connection  of  the  Press  with  politics.  There  were 
thirty-seven  journalists  in  the  Parliament  which  came  to 
an  end  in  April,  1910;  but  legion  is  the  name  of  those 
having  some  connection,  past  or  present,  with  the  calling. 
The  Press  enters  every  Cabinet  meeting  in  the  person  of 
one  or  other  of  the  Ministers.  M.  Briand  is  a  journalist, 
and  so  was  M.  Clemenceau.  Though  both  began  life  in 
other  professions,  M.  Briand,  as  a  lawyer,  M.  Clemenceau, 
as  a  doctor,  the  Press  eventually  claimed  them.  Clemen- 
ceau's  trenchant  articles  in  the  "  Aurore,"  on  the  Dreyfus 
case,  can  never  be  forgotten :  they  were  models  of  polemical 
writing;  and  M.  Briand,  at  one  stage  of  his  meteoric  career, 
was  keeper  of  the  delicate  conscience  of  the  "  Lanterne," 
which  formerly  was  the  chosen  medium  for  the  "  fougue  " 
and  fire  of  Henri  Rochefort.  That  was  long  ago.  That 
singular  figure,  Rochefort,  who  was  likened  by  Jules  Le- 
maitre  to  one  of  the  grinning  masks  of  comedy  and  tragedy 
on  the  proscenium  of  a  theatre,  has  been  in  more  trouble 
with  the  authorities  than  any  other  publicist  of  Paris.  He 
was  subjected  to  transportation  for  participation  in  the  Com- 
mune, and  has  suffered  various  terms  of  imprisonment  ai^a 
fought  innumerable  duels  as  a  tribute  to  the  vitriolic 
quality  of  his  pen. 

Rochefort  belongs  to  the  old  school,  which  considered 

.7  ■  / 


2S8  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

it  was  necessary  to  vilify  an  antagonist  and  provoke  him 
to  an  encounter  with  arms  in  order  to  establish  one's  repu- 
tation as  a  gentleman  of  the  Press.  Rochefort  still  writes 
a  daily  article  in  the  "  Patrie."  He  has  the  London  cab- 
man's faculty  of  never  repeating  himself  in  his  bad  lan- 
guage. Though  he  has  sympathized  all  his  life  long  with 
revolution,  he  does  not  like  the  ordinary  Republican,  and 
his  present  attitude  is  one  of  violent  contempt  of  the 
Administration. 

Journalism  has  changed  vastly  since  Rochefort  first  took 
pen  in  hand.  The  days  of  the  "  one  man  "  newspaper  are 
over.  Formerly,  the  favourite  organ  of  public  opinion 
consisted  of  an  article  written  by  the  office  celebrity,  and 
the  rest  was  a  mass  of  ill-arranged  news  of  the  day  before 
yesterday.  Those  were  the  times  of  "  opinions  "  certainly, 
but  opinions  often  founded  upon  inaccurate  premisses,  and 
hence,  of  little  value.  Of  late  years,  the  "journal  d'infor- 
mation  "  has  arisen,  in  which  a  serious  attempt  is  made  to 
give  the  news  of  the  world  in  the  preceding  four-and- 
twenty  hours.  The  "  Matin  "  and  the  "  Journal "  show  as 
much  enterprise  in  the  collection  of  their  news  as  their 
most  active  contemporaries  in  London.  During  the  Russo- 
Japanese  War,  the  correspondence  of  Ludovic  Naudeau  in 
the  "  Journal "  was  as  good  and  serious  work  as  was  to  be 
found  anywhere.  Jules  Hedeman,  in  the  "Matin,"  Stephane 
Lauzanne,  its  editor ;  Marcel  Hutin  and  Andre  Mevil  in 
the  "  Echo  de  Paris  " — also  a  first-class  "  journal  d'informa- 
tion  " — are  of  the  best  type  of  correspondent.  Charles 
Huret's  work  in  the  "Figaro" — he  discovered  America  for 
the  French  Bourgeois — is  admirable  of  its  kind.  Famous 
writers  are  harnessed  to  the  Press.  There  is  not  the  same 
divorce,  as  in  England,  between  literature  (or  what  is 
pleased  to  call  itself  such)  and  newspaper  writing.  The 
novelist  wins  his   spurs  in  the  "  feuilleton " ;  the  young 


THE   PRESS   AND   PUBLIC  OPINION  259 

aspirant  to  politics  imposes  himself  upon  his  public  by  his 
contributions  on  weighty  matters  of  the  law  and  municipal 
procedure.  Journalism,  as  we  know,  leads  to  everything, 
provided  one  leaves  it  early  enough.  The  Press  is  the 
recruiting  ground  of  the  public  man  in  France.  The  early 
exercise  of  the  pen  is  an  undoubted  sharpener  of  the 
faculties,  but  the  "  journalistic  sense  "  thus  developed  may 
sometimes  be  inimical  to  the  highest  interests  of  State. 

Time  was  when  poets  had  their  place,  just  as  the 
"chroniqueurs"  had  theirs,  on  the  Paris  newspaper.  The 
last  of  the  poet-journalists  was  Catulle  Mendes — a  name, 
was  it  not?  for  a  poet — who  died  in  1909  as  the  result  of  a 
fall  from  a  railway  carriage  in  a  tunnel :  a  tragic  end  to  a 
brilliant  brain.  The  last  of  the  "chroniqueurs"  was 
Aurelien  Scholl.  His  notion  of  the  art  of  "keeping  a 
journal"  was  a  cheery  and  often  learned  and  witty  chronicle 
of  Paris  doings.  There  is  something  to  be  said  for  the 
system  of  seeing  the  events  of  the  day  through  the  eyes  of 
a  "flaneur."  One  has  to  train  to  be  a  "chroniqueur"  just 
as  the  jockey  has  to  get  down  to  his  weight  to  ride  at 
Longchamp.  Men  assembled  daily  for  exercise  in  the 
art  of  persiflage  and  badinage.  All  the  gossip  of  the 
day,  political,  literary,  artistic,  filtered  through  the  fine 
mesh  of  their  brains.  In  an  atmosphere  charged  with 
conversational  electricity  they  said  and  thought  and  wrote 
wonderful  things.  Scholl,  Mendes,  Alexandre  Dumas 
fils,  Victorien  Sardou,  and  all  the  bright  wits  of  the 
Second  Empire  and  the  early  days  of  the  Third  Republic 
met  every  afternoon,  in  a  Boulevard  cafe,  where  they  dis- 
cussed the  events  of  the  day  and,  amid  the  fumes  of  "  the 
green  goddess,"  evolved  those  sparkling  articles  which 
were  the  joy  of  the  man  who  knew  and  loved  his  Paris. 
The  tradition  lingers,  but  the  gathering  of  the  literary  clans 
is  more  meagre  than  of  yore,  and  the  Attic  salt  is  rarer  at 


26o  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

the  board.  These  are  the  days  of  the  telegraph  and  the 
tape-machine :  we  cannot  wait  for  subtle  processes  of  the 
intellectual  crucible.  Yet,  considering  the  speed  at  which 
every  one  has  to  work,  nowadays,  the  polish  attained  by 
the  Boulevard  organs  is  remarkable.  What  expenditure 
of  talent  is  here — to  live  only  for  a  day !  This  little 
article  we  have  read,  nebulous  and  whimsical — a  little 
"  chef  d'cEUvre  "  in  its  way — will  perish  in  an  hour. 

Criticism  is  a  strong  point  in  the  daily  output  of 
journalistic  brains.  Emile  Faguet  in  the  "  Debats," 
Adolphe  Brisson  in  the  "Temps,"  are  famous  critics  of 
the  drama.  The  meanest  paper  devotes  a  large  attention 
to  the  things  of  the  spirit — and  the  flesh — translated  by 
the  stage.  Whilst  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  discover 
from  the  article  whether  the  play  is  good  or  bad,  the  critic 
has  generally  taken  infinite  pains  to  lay  bare  the  "  etat 
d'ame  "  of  the  dramatist,  and  to  expose  the  working  of  his 
puppets.  You  will  understand  the  development  of  the 
play,  you  will  understand  the  underlying  motive  of  the 
author,  but  it  is  quite  possible  that  you  will  not  gather 
what  has  been  the  verdict  of  the  public — whether  the 
play  is  a  success  or  not.  This  omission  arises  from  the 
fact  that  every  critic  is  a  dramatist  on  his  own  account, 
and  fears  that  his  censure  shall  be  misconstrued.  And, 
again,  the  gentle  art  of  log-rolling  is  not  unknown  on  the 
Boulevards.  On  the  whole,  I  prefer  the  French  to  the 
English  article,  which,  except  in  some  notable  cases, 
attempts  no  criticism  of  any  real  kind.  When  it  con- 
descends to  preach  a  homily  on  the  presentation  of  a 
problem  of  life,  which  it  has  not  understood,  it  considers 
that  the  word  "  unpleasant "  is  a  quite  sufficient  answer  to 
any  disquieting  issues  that  may  be  raised. 

The  halfpenny  journal  flourishes  in  Paris  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the   higher-class   publications.     The  "  Temps," 


THE  PRESS   AND   PUBLIC  OPINION  261 

with  somewhat  anti-Ministerial  tendencies,  remains  a 
monument  of  moderation  and  accurate  information. 
Until  a  short  while  ago,  it  was  the  only  journal  which 
troubled  to  spell  the  name  of  British  politicians,  even  the 
most  distinguished,  correctly,  or  to  give  its  readers  an 
intelligent  summary  of  events  outside  France.  Though 
its  cheaper  rivals  are,  to-day,  well  informed  of  the  course 
of  English  affairs,  the  "  Temps  "  maintains  a  prestige  for 
sobriety  and  for  the  semi-official  character  of  its  political 
pronouncements.  The  foreigner,  in  regarding  the  English 
Press,  is  often  puzzled  to  determine  which  organ  speaks 
with  the  voice  of  the  Ministry  of  the  day,  and  the  assump- 
tion that  the  "  Times  "  is  the  official  spokesman  has  led  to 
strange  mistakes.  In  France,  the  "  Temps,"  or  the  stately 
"  Journal  des  Debats,"  and  sometimes,  the  "  Matin  "  are 
chosen  as  the  channels  of  official  information.  Yet  it  is 
rather  in  what  they  do  not  say,  that  one  finds  the  Govern- 
ment influence  strongest.  For  instance :  an  awkward 
incident  arises,  let  us  say,  on  the  high  seas.  "As  the 
result,"  we  read,  "  of  an  optical  illusion,  caused  by  a 
heavy  Christmas  dinner,  the  officers  on  a  Turkish  Dread- 
nought salute  a  British  tramp  steamer  with  a  charge  of 
shell,  which  kills  the  captain's  parrot  and  wounds  the 
cabin  boy."  The  facts  are  related,  gravely,  in  the  Paris 
journals,  but  without  comment,  because  the  Quai  d'Orsay 
has  reminded  possible  delinquents  of  the  international 
consequences  of  an  excess  of  language.  There  has  been 
a  "  mot  d'ordre  "  to  suspend  judgment.  The  wise  scribe 
knows  the  value  of  the  Secret  Service  Fund,  and  post- 
pones his  editorial  fire  until  there  is  no  longer  much 
danger  of  hitting  a  friendly  Power. 

The  best-informed  political  writer  is  M.  Tardieu 
(Georges  Villiers),  who  supplies  the  "  Temps  "  with  inter- 
views with  diplomats.     Being  formerly  in  the  Service  as 


262  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

Secretary  of  Embassy,  he  knows  how  to  unlock  the  lips 
of  those  who  are  supposed  to  be  the  repositories  of  State 
secrets.  The  "Temps,"  like  the  excellent  and  literary 
"  Debats,"  belongs  to  the  elder  family  of  newspapers. 
A  dignified  member  of  the  same  group  is  the  "  Gaulois," 
which,  though  directed  by  a  Jew,  who  has  Verted  to  the 
Roman  Church,  has  constituted  itself  the  champion  of  the 
Altar  and  the  Throne.  It  appears,  sometimes,  to  be  "  plus 
royaliste  que  le  roi,"  and  the  Due  d'Orleans,  as  head  of  the 
cadet  branch  of  the  Bourbons  and  Pretender-in-chief  to 
the  French  throne — if  one  rejects  the  claims  of  the  Naun- 
dorfs  to  be  the  descendants  of  Louis  XVII — has  had  the 
air  of  letting  it  down  rather  badly.  Nevertheless,  this 
eminently  respectable  organ,  written  exclusively  "  for 
gentlemen,  by  gentlemen" — there  is  no  member  of  the 
staff  without  his  particle — continues,  suavely  and  with  per- 
fect breeding,  to  espouse  the  cause — the  poor,  hopeless  cause 
— of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain.  It  is  remarkably  cheerful 
under  adversity.  The  director  is  a  rich  man  and  has  married 
the  daughter  of  a  Duke,  which  is,  surely,  a  sign  of  prosperity 
and  of  a  not  too  dolorous  view  of  the  future  of  France. 

The  "  Gil  Bias  "  is  a  newspaper  with  a  history.  In  its 
unregenerate  days,  it  coquetted  openly,  brazenly,  with 
the  demi-monde.  Its  golden-haired  readers  and  readers 
with  dyed  whiskers  have  had  to  turn  elsewhere  for  their 
daily  pabulum — to  the  "  Rire,"  perhaps,  or  "  Fantasio." 
Other,  and,  no  doubt,  higher  destinies  are  reserved  for  the 
former  servant  of  light-mindedness.  A  new-comer  amongst 
the  newspapers  is  "  Excelsior,"  run  upon  the  familiar 
English  lines  of  an  illustrated  journal.  It  tells,  in  photo- 
graphs, of  the  events  of  the  preceding  twenty-four  hours. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  publications  is  "  Comoedia," 
entirely  devoted  to  the  theatre.  Paris  is,  probably,  the 
only  capital  in  the  world  where  a  six-page  paper  could 


THE   PRESS   AND   PUBLIC   OPINION  263 

"  print  itself  "  profitably,  having  the  pretty  actress  and  her 
art  as  its  only  "  raison  d'etre."  But,  then,  every  French- 
man has  an  unfinished  play  lying  somewhere  about  his 
"  appartement."  Dramatists  are  as  common  as  the  decor- 
ated in  Paris,  where  the  ribbon  has  become  the  sign  of 
mediocrity — to  believe  those  who  are  undecorated.  There 
is  a  host  of  small  journals,  some  of  which  have  been  the 
cradle  of  great  ambitions,  subsequently  realized.  The 
"  Aurore,"  the  "  Lanterne,"  "  L'Humanite  "  belong  to  the 
advanced  guard  in  politics.  They  are  very  small  dogs, 
but  their  bark  is  loud  and  fierce,  whenever  Ministry  or 
Opposition,  as  the  case  may  be,  is  up  to  any  knavish 
tricks.  "L'Humanite"  is  directed  by  Jean  Jaures,  the 
leader  of  the  Parliamentary  Socialists,  and  is  interesting 
on  that  account.  He  is  a  better  orator  than  writer,  and 
his  daily  admonitions  to  the  Government  do  not,  it  seems, 
promote  a  large  circulation.  The  Monarchical  movement 
keeps  its  advocates  in  the  Press,  both  influential  and 
obscure.  The  really  fighting  organ  in  this  cause  is  the 
"  Action  Frangaise,"  which  loves  not  the  "  Gaulois."  Its 
young  men  occasionally  become  fired  with  a  propagandist 
zeal  and  operate  a  "coup,"  which  brings  them  to  the 
police-court.  One  of  the  advantages  of  a  multitudinous 
Press  is  that  every  section  of  the  community  can  be  re- 
presented. Between,  say,  the  "  Guerre  Sociale,"  in  which 
Gustave  Herve  preaches  the  doctrines  of  the  Social  Revo- 
lution, and  '*  La  Croix,"  the  very  militant  knight  of  the 
Church,  there  are  a  thousand  degrees,  responding  to  the 
variations  in  temperament  of  this  quicksilvery  and,  at 
the  same  time,  individualistic  people. 

Whilst  the  Government,  in  matters  of  foreign  politics, 
can  put  its  hands  upon  the  Press,  it  is  powerless,  appar- 
ently, to  stop  official  leakages.  Yet  it  has  its  own  medium 
for  announcements,  which  is  known  as  the  "  Officiel."     Its 


264  FRANCE  AND  THE   FRENCH 

size  is  small,  but  its  pages  are  many  on  the  days  of  great 
debates  in  the  Chambers.  The  utterances  of  deputies  are 
reported  at  some  length ;  those  of  Ministers  are  generally 
given  verbatim.  Presidential  and  Departmental  decrees 
and  "  promotions "  of  all  sorts  are  published.  The  issue 
of  lists  for  the  Legion  of  Honour  and  other  orders  means 
a  large  circulation  for  the  "  Officiel,"  for  every  other  man 
looks  to  see  whether  he  or  his  cousin  is  not  among  the 
be-ribboned.  On  such  occasions  the  "  camelot "  extracts 
from  the  expectant  candidate  as  much  as  three  francs  for 
a  copy,  which  is  ordinarily  sold  for  a  sou.  It  is  worth  that 
sum,  evidently,  to  know  that  you  have  exchanged  the  plain 
ribbon  of  the  "  chevalier  "  for  the  rosette  of  the  "  officier." 

This  chapter,  though  nominally  devoted  to  the  French 
Press,  deals,  almost  exclusively,  with  the  Parisian  Press. 
Paris  is  France  in  this  connection.  There  are  journals  of 
influence  and  importance  published  beyond  the  periphery  of 
the  metropolis,  such  as  the  "  Depeche,"  of  Toulouse,  which 
is  said  to  have  a  million  circulation  through  its  various 
local  editions  ;  the  "  Progres,"  of  Lyons  ;  the  "  Petit  Mar- 
seillais,"  the  "France  du  Sud-Ouest,"  of  Bordeaux,  and 
various  other  newspapers  of  great  repute ;  but,  generally 
speaking,  the  provincial  "  thunderer  "  is  uninteresting  save 
as  an  indication  of  the  direction  of  the  political  wind. 
Paris  overshadows  everything ;  this  is  one  of  the  un- 
fortunate results  of  centralization  ;  but  the  Minister  of  the 
Interior  watches  the  effect  of  Governmental  policy  on  the 
country  in  the  local  sheets.  An  examination  of  these  will 
often  show  a  divergence  between  Paris  and  Provincial 
opinion.  Whilst  there  is  talk  of  revolution  in  the  cities,  the 
conservative  peasantry  will  be  found  urging  the  Govern- 
ment to  show  energy  in  the  repression  of  disorder. 
Pataud,  who  plunged  Paris  in  darkness  by  organizing 
a   strike    of  electricians,   has    no   following    outside    the 


THE  PRESS  AND   PUBLIC  OPINION  265 

large  towns.  If  the  countryman  had  his  way  the  dema- 
gogue would  have  been  swinging,  long  ago,  from  the  top  of 
the  monument  on  the  Place  de  la  Republique,  the  scene 
of  many  of  his  audacious  attempts  to  embroil  the  Parisian 
artisan  with  the  army. 

The  "  Petit  Parisien  "  and  the  "  Petit  Journal "  almost 
belong  to  the  Provinces,  though  both  are  printed  and  pub- 
lished in  Paris ;  but  their  circulation,  which  is  enormous, 
is  mostly  a  country  circulation  fostered  by  an  immense 
variety  of  editions.  Their  influence  over  a  wide  stretch  of 
territory  is  considerable.  When  Ernest  Judet,  a  polemical 
writer  of  parts  and  prejudices,  contributed  leaders  to  the 
"  Petit  Journal,"  then  in  the  height  of  its  power,  he  un- 
doubtedly turned  many  of  his  compatriots  to  a  belief  in 
the  guilt  of  Dreyfus.  Nowadays  the  same  voice  is  heard 
from  the  tribune  of  the  "  Eclair,"  which  has  become  some- 
what Anglophobe,  as  if  it  wished  to  assume  the  mantle 
of  "  La  Patrie,"  which  the  latter  wore  with  such  amusing, 
if  venomous,  grace  of  an  afternoon.  To-day  the  "  Patrie  " 
is  clothed  in  the  fine  raiment  of  the  Entente  and  sits 
among  the  politically  just.  Opinions  may  still  affect  a 
circulation  in  France,  though  one  of  the  largest,  viz.  that 
of  the  "Journal,"  has  been  built  up  without  any.  The 
"  Figaro "  undoubtedly  lost  heavily  for  conscience  sake, 
when  it  defended  the  victim  of  Devil's  Isle. 

The  French  Press  has  always  been  a  personal  Press  as 
opposed  to  the  British  Press,  which  is  impersonal.  The 
editorial  "we"  and  the  Olympian  tone  have  given  place 
to  the  impertinent  "  I."  Whether  the  change  is  for  the 
better  or  not,  it  is  not  for  me  to  say ;  at  least,  it  seems 
more  interesting.  You  know  that  what  you  read  is 
Dupont's  opinions,  and  you  feel,  when  you  meet  Dupont, 
that  you  are  shaking  hands  with  his  newspaper  as  well  as 
himself     The  man  who  looks  for  sound  political  direction 


266  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

in  his  Paris  paper  will  hardly*  find  it.  Ridicule  is  the 
favourite  weapon  of  the  autocrats  of  the  breakfast  table, 
•and  ridicule  is  never  constructive.  If  behind  the  policies 
of  French  Governments,  there  seems  to  be  written — 
especially  of*  later  years — "  apres  moi,  le  deluge,"  one  has 
the  same  feeling  in  regard  to  the  policies  of  Parisian 
editors.  But  this  is  partly  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  light  form 
adopted  by  criticism.  "  Tout  finit  par  les  chansons."  The 
comment  of  the  song  may  be  caustic,  but  its  vivacious  air 
has  probably  a  different  effect  upon  the  public  than  the 
graver  notes  of  the  British  diapason.  Nevertheless,  the 
Press  has  its  tremendous  propaganda,  and,  more  par- 
ticularly, the  advanced  organs  are  directed  by  men  of 
almost  apostolic  fervour.  It  is  impossible,  for  instance,  to 
doubt  the  sincerity  of  M.  Jaures. 

The  political  tone  of  a  French  newspaper  is  "  atmos- 
pheric." One  finds  in  what  direction  the  sympathies  of  a 
paper  lie  in  its  articles  and  its  interviews  rather  than  in 
the  limited  space  given  up  to  professed  comment.  The 
"  Matin,"  for  instance,  which  I  take  as  the  type  of  the 
modern  progressive  paper  in  France,  never  leaves  you  in 
doubt  as  to  its  views  on  the  regime :  they  are  clearly 
marked  by  the  "  articles  de  fond,"  which  have  the  strenuous 
democratic  touch.  Other  articles  convey  to  you  a  strong 
Anti-Clericalism,  a  hostile  attitude  towards  the  Church. 

As  to  the  influence  of  the  Press,  it  would  take  another 
chapter  of  this  length  to  discuss  it  in  anything  like  com- 
pleteness. One  would  have  to  begin  by  demanding  :  what 
are  the  requisites  of  a  Press  ?  Is  its  mission  solely  to  in- 
struct or  merely  to  amuse  ?  The  French  journal  cannot 
be  called  the  counsellor  of  the  people  so  much  as  their 
chatty  companion.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that 
the  Parisian  reads  more  newspaper  literature  than  the 
Londoner,  but  the  countryman  reads  less  than  the  similarly 


»  •»     f 


THE   PRESS   AND   PUBLIC   OPINION  267 

situated  Englishman.  From  this  I  judge  that  France 
is  not  much  affected  by  "  machine-made  "  opinion,  since 
the  Paris  papers  are  probably  not  taken  very  seriously  and 
the  Provincial  "  confreres  "  are  not  much  read.  Yet  it  is 
true  that  a  Press  "campaign,"  conducted  with  venom  and 
enough  scandal  to  whet  the  appetite  of  readers,  often  plays 
a  great  part  in  election  results.  Here,  again,  the  personal 
element  is  largely  present. 

The  most  regrettable  feature  of  the  daily  Press  of  Paris 
is  its  sensationalism.  The  worst  offenders  are  the  illus- 
trated supplements,  which  give  ghastly  pictures,  none  the 
less  gruesome  because  imaginary,  of  the  crimes  of  the  week. 
On  the  score  of  morality,  there  is  much  to  say  that  would 
be  true,  if  it  were  expedient.  That  newspaper  owners  re- 
gard their  properties  in  a  different  light  from  that  obtain- 
ing in  England,  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  exploit  every 
literary  corner  as  if  it  were  a  gold  mine  with  quartz  to  be 
crushed,  does  not  affect  the  fact  that  the  French  journalist, 
individually,  is  an  extraordinarily  industrious  and  gifted 
creature,  possessed  of  great  "  camaraderie  "  and  working 
under  high  pressure  for  a  small  salary.  His  achievements, 
whether  in  the  embellishment  of  a  police  report,  or  in 
conducting  investigations  into  one  of  the  numerous 
"  affaires,"  which  render  existence  in  France  so  stimula- 
ting, are  often  very  striking.  The  Paris  Press,  it  seems  to  u 
me,  is  an  instrument  of  culture,  as  well  as  of  enlighten-  L^ 
ment.  But  it  has  its  unfavourable  features :  the  sale  of 
its  financial  column  to  speculators,  so  that  the  editor  has 
no  control  over  the  advice  given,  and  the  taint  of  money 
in  its  "  campaigns."  Yet,  apart  from  these  blemishes,  af- 
fecting but  little  the  ordinary  reader — since  he  is  not 
aware  of  them — the  Paris  newspaper  combines  many  of 
the  virtues  of  the  English  system  with  some  few — and  not 
the  least  attractive — of  its  own. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
FRENCH    EDUCATION 

QUITE  apart  from  its  superior  organization  and 
development,  the  French  system  of  education 
differs  essentially  from  the  English  in  its  com- 
plete subordination  to  Government  control.  The 
State  is  everywhere  and  the  individual  nowhere  in  the 
French  educational  cosmos.  The  State  has  its  hand  upon 
the  Ecole  Communale  or  Elementary  school,  upon  the 
Lycee  or  Secondary  school — to  a  large  extent  upon  the 
Colleges  or  Grammar  Schools — to  the  greatest  extent 
j  upon  the  Universities.  The  Chancellor  of  the  University 
of  Paris  is  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  which  shows 
how  close  is  the  connection.  The  present  system  dates 
practically  from  the  Revolution.  The  Ecole  Communale 
owes  its  existence  to  the  Convention.  The  Government 
has  not  yet  succeeded  in  monopolizing  education.  The 
old  Loi  Falloux  still  exists,  which  safeguards  the  liberty  of 
secondary  education,  enabling  the  Church  party  to  main- 
tpiin  colleges — but  both  they  and  the  "  free"  or  unprovided 
)  schools  are  doomed  to  disappear  in  a  more  or  less  distant 
/'  future.  Slowly  the  Government  is  obtaining  possession  of 
the  whole  educational  machinery.  The  present  proportion 
of  Government  to  "  free  "  schools  is  nine  to  one. 

A  considerable  blow  was  aimed  at  clerical  instruction 

when  Church  and  State  parted  company  after  a  hundred 

"^  years'   experience    of   the    Concordat.      It   is   true    that 

268 


/ 


p 


FRENCH   EDUCATION  269 

numbers  of  Church  schools  have  converted  themselves,  with 
startling  rapidity,  into  lay  establishments — the  former 
brother  appearing  in  the  costume  of  the  ordinary  citizen  : 
but  the  struggle  is  unequal.  Even  the  Church  begins  to 
realize  its  inability  to  continue  the  fight  and  is  slowly 
falling  back  upon  a  second  line  of  defence  represented  by 
"  patronages  "  or  clubs,  where  school-children  are  gathered 
each  evening  and  on  Sundays.  Such  institutions  are  in- 
expensively run  and  are  made  attractive  to  youth  by 
amusements  of  all  sorts.  Such  doctrinal  teaching  as  may 
be  given  in  classes  on  Sunday,  or  such  commentary  as 
may  be  uttered  on  the  present  Republic  in  lectures  during 
the  week,  pass  unchallenged  since  there  is  no  Government 
inspection,  such  as  checks  propaganda  in  the  schools.  This 
abandonment  of  the  front  of  the  battle  is  due  to  financial 
difficulties  of  maintenance  and  the  constant  demands  of 
the  Government  for  a  higher  educational  standard  on  the 
part  of  the  teachers. 

When  M.  Doumergue  was  Minister  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion in  the  Briand  Cabinet,  he  brought  in  a  Bill  to  ensure 
that  every  teacher  in  a  "  free  "  school  should  be  furnished 
with  a  certificate  of  pedagogy,  which  is  only  granted  by 
the  State-controlled  university.  Moreover,  Church  schools 
were  to  submit  to  an  inspection  by  Government  officers 
and  to  give  assurances  that  their  staff  had  no  connection 
with  the  unauthorized  Orders.  This  "  projet  de  loi "  did 
not  become  law,  but  its  principles  will,  doubtless,  be  em- 
bodied in  future  legislation. 

At  the  same  time,  the  attempt  to  force  every  child  in 
the  country  to  resort  to  a  State  school  is  not  without  its 
dangers.  This  was  realized  by  M.  Briand,  who  was  unable 
to  continue  in  office  because  of  Anti-Clerical  opposition — 
as  I  have  shown  elsewhere.  He  saw  that  reaction  from 
the  materialistic  teaching  of  the  schools  was  inevitable. 


2  70  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  discussion  which  took  place 
in  the  Chamber  in  the  early  days  of  1910.  Catholic 
Deputies  mounted  to  the  tribune  and  complained  of  the 
nature  of  the  instruction  in  the  schools.  Absurd  pains 
are  taken  to  ignore  the  existence  of  the  Almighty,  and 
history  is  distorted  to  bring  it  into  line  with  modern 
materialistic  and  advanced  Republican  thought. 

This  Parliamentary  protest  had  its  origin  in  a  mani- 
festo by  the  Bishops,  in  which  they  stigmatized  a  number 
of  school-books  as  hurtful  and  subversive  in  tone.  The 
Government  was  wise  in  adopting  a  conciliatory  attitude. 
It  is  apparent  that  if  a  monopoly  is  to  be  established  and 
Catholics  compelled  to  send  their  children  to  the  State 
schools,  some  agitation  must  be  looked  for.  Far  better, 
in  a  moral  as  well  as  a  material  sense — for  the  change 
involves  the  expenditure  of  millions  of  francs — that  the 
laicized  clerical  schools  should  be  allowed  to  exist  side  by 
side  with  the  Government  schools.  Again,  you  have  this 
consideration  :  how  are  you  to  have  definitely  religious 
teaching  from  a  body  of  men,  many  of  whom  are  ad- 
mittedly "  libres  penseurs  "  ?  The  elementary  teacher  in 
France  delights  in  adopting  the  "  advanced "  attitude  in 

^  politics  as  in  all  else. 

j  The  dominance  of  the  State  is,  as  I  have  said,  the 
characteristic  of  the  French  system.  The  Department 
sets  the  pattern,  which  has  to  be  strictly  followed.  Every 
Communal  school  is  just  like  every  other  Communal 
school.  The  lycees,  or  secondary  schools,  are  the  exact 
image  of  one  another.  In  this  lies  the  vast  difference  of 
the  English  system.  Supposing  you  take  the  secondary 
schools  of  England  :  Eton,  Harrow,  Winchester,  Rugby, 
you  find  an  extraordinary  variety,  a  variety  that  consists 
in  aims  and  objects,  in  the  personality  and  influence  of 
the  master,  in  the  degree  of  instruction  given,  in  the  tone 


FRENCH   EDUCATION  271 

and  atmosphere  of  the  school  itself,  and,  lastly,  in  the 
prominence  given  to  school  games.  It  is  difficult  to  write 
in  generalities  of  English  education  because  the  type  is 
so  varied.  Yet,  oddly  enough,  the  result  of  this  diversified 
education  is  extraordinarily  similar.  The  men  from  Eton, 
Winchester,  and  Harrow  present  very  much  the  same 
characteristics.  You  recognize  the  public-schoolboy  type 
everywhere.  The  qualities,  good  or  bad,  that  he  has 
received  from  contact  with  his  comrades  in  the  class- 
rooms, or  the  playing-field,  and  from  the  influence  of  his 
house-master,  he  carries  with  him  wherever  he  goes, 
whether  to  farm  in  Western  Canada,  to  grow  wool  in 
Australia  or  New  Zealand,  to  hold  a  Government  appoint- 
ment in  South  Africa.  He  is  profoundly  impressed  by  his 
early  training,  and  Oxford  or  Cambridge  confirms  him  in 
the  same  mould. 

Not  so  the  French  boy,  product  of  the  lycee^  If  one 
lyc6e  is  just  like  another,  with  superficial  differences,  the 
lycean  himself  is  dissimilar;  he  has  no  strong  bond  of  union 
with  his  fellows ;  he  has  little  sense  of  solidarity.  And 
the  reason  ?  It  is  not  far  to  seek.  In  the  great  public 
schools  of  England,  the  scholar  lives  and  moves  and  has 
his  being  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  school ;  it  is  never 
absent  from  him  for  one  minute  in  the  twenty-four  hours, 
He  is  constantly  in  contact  with  the  other  boys  :  in  school 
hours,  in  the  playground,  at  the  common  table,  in  the 
dormitories,  in  walks  in  and  out  of  bounds.  The  school 
is  stamped  upon  him.  The  boy  is  an  assimilative  animal, 
and,  like  the  types  mentioned  by  Darwin,  takes  the  colour 
of  his  surroundings.  A  Rugbean  is  dyed  with  the 
colours  of  Rugby,  an  Etonian  saturated  with  the  spirit  of 
Eton ;  a  Harrovian  thinks  as  did  Harrovians  before  him 
and  as  Harrovians  will  after  him  ;  there  is  a  wonderful 
continuity,  a  wonderful  "  esprit  de  corps,"  a  feeling  that 


272  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

the  school  is  the  world.  There  are  in  the  universe  only 
two  types :  the  public-schoolman  and  the  "  other  fellows  " 
— mostly  impossible. 

You  never  get  that  feeling  in  the  French  lycee,  because 
the  young  man  goes  home  to  bed — perhaps,  also,  to  his 
meals.  The  greater  number  of  Vceans  are  day-pupils. 
The  pupil  is  constantly  within  range  of  the  tender  solici- 
tude of  Mama,  and  within  sound  of  the  sonorities  of  Papa. 
Instinctively  he  imbibes  the  politics  of  his  parent.  If  the 
latter  is  a  Royalist,  convinced  of  the  wickedness  and 
futility  of  the  Republican  regime,  so  is  he  ;  if  a  Socialist — 
if  there  be  such  in  such  surroundings — so  is  he.  He  lives 
in  conditions  conducive  to  precocity.  He  does  not  remain 
a  boy  all  of  the  twenty-four  hours ;  it  is  doubtful  if  he  is 
ever  really  a  boy.  He  is  born  grown-up.  Any  spark  of 
youth  which  may  happen  to  survive  the  home  process,  is 
carefully  extinguished  by  the  school  curriculum.  He  has* 
to  work  four  hours  a  day  in  class  for  six  days  a  week ; 
another  four  hours,  as  a  minimum,  are  absorbed  by  pre- 
paration, giving  a  working-day  of  eight  hours  for  a  growing 
lad  of  fourteen.  There  is  precious  little  time  for  recreation, 
for  the  joy  of  living,  for  good,  healthy  exercise  at  rackets  or 
fives,  cricket  or  football.  One  of  the  saddest  spectacles  is 
the  "  sixth-form  "  lycean  bending  his  adolescent  energies  to 
marbles  as  a  variant  from  the  eternal  round  of  classics  and 
mathematics  and  natural  sciences. 

If  he  is  an  "  interne,"  his  condition  is  much  worse.  Most 
young  Frenchmen  look  back  with  horror  upon  the  years 
spent  at  boarding-school  away  from  their  mothers.  If  the 
Englishman  is  tempted  to  laugh  at  the  Frenchman's  cult 
of  his  mother,  he,  himself,  must  remember  that  he  is  re- 
garded as  a  bloodless  being  by  other  nations  and  as  largely 
indifferent  to  the  ties  of  family.  The  love  of  mother  is 
doubtless  as  strong  a  deterrent  as  any  other  to  emigration 


FRENCH   EDUCATION  273 

from  the  pleasant  land  of  France.  In  a  uniform  that  recalls 
the  naval  cadet  or  the  German  bandsman,  the  boarders  at 
a  lycee  are  taken  for  walks  in  the  streets — a  melancholy- 
procession  of  overweighted  youth  in  charge  of  an  usher, 
the  antithesis  of  the  young  athletic  English  schoolmaster. 
The  physical  side,  certainly,  is  woefully  neglected  in  the 
French  system. 

The  boy's  head  is  crammed  with  knowledge,  but  there  is 
no  scheme  for  making  muscles  and  strong  arms  and  legs. 
The  youth  is  stuffed  intellectually,  like  a  chicken  being 
prepared  for  market — the  market  of  examinations.  The 
curriculum  is  overcharged.  The  lycean  learns  too  many 
subjects  and  is  required  to  go  too  deeply  into  them  for  his 
years.  At  sixteen,  the  average  French  boy  of  the  middle 
classes  has  passed  his  baccalaureate  and  knows  as  much  as 
the  average  young  Englishman  of  twenty-one.  Yet  the 
superiority  of  the  French  boy  is  dearly  bought.  By  the 
time  he  has  reached  professional  life,  his  nerves  and  his 
stomach  have  probably  given  out  under  the  strain. 

This  is  the  reverse  side  of  the  medal.  But  justice  must 
be  done  to  a  system  which  is  marvellous  in  its  thoroughness 
and  completeness.  It  exhibits  in  its  highest  degree  the 
logical  character  of  the  French.  The  proud  device, 
"  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity,"  blazoned  on  the  public 
buildings,  never  received  a  better  justification  than  in  the 
educational  system.  It  is  pure  democracy.  That  ladder 
that  Professor  Huxley  wished  to  see  set  up  from  the  gutter 
to  the  University  is  admirablyrepresented  in  the  educational 
scheme  of  our  neighbours.  Any  boy  of  ability  with  plod- 
ding industry,  can  mount  the  ladder  at  very  little  cost  to 
his  parents.  Convenient  "  bourses  "  help  him  at  various 
points  in  his  career,  which  may  eventually  land  him  at  the 
top  of  the  educational  system  :  professor  of  the  university, 
with  the  difficult  "  agregation  "  to  his  credit. 
18 


^' 


2  74  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

The  very  perfections  of  the  organic  structure  lead  to  im- 
perfections, human  nature  (especially  French)  being  what 
J  it  is.     Politics  play  their  part,  not  a  very  large  part,  I  am 
\  happy  to  say,  in  French  education;  but  the  still  small 
t  voice  of  the  Deputy  is  not  excluded  from  the  councils  of 
'  4  those   who   rule   over  the   enlightenment  of  the   masses. 
^^  "  Dispenses,"  as  they  are  called,  are  more  numerous  than 
they  ought  to  be :  youths  are  passed  into  the  secondary 
5^  schools  who  have  no  right  to  be  there.     Boys  whose  proper 
^  walk  in  life  is  carpentry,  or  the  driving  of  an  omnibus,  are 
goaded  by  their  own  or  their  parents'  ambition  to  prepare 
for  liberal  careers;  girls,  who  would  have  been  happy  as 
dressmakers  or  modistes,  torture  their  brains  with  the  idea 
of  becoming  one  day  teachers  in  a  public  school.     These 
things  happen  in  all  countries ;  they  are  the  inevitable 
result  of  popular  education.    One  may  say  that  the  under- 
lying idea  is  to  give  the  highest  instruction  possible  to  the 
masses,  who  are  to  exercise  the  franchise.     It  is  obviously 
a  danger  to  the  community  when  the  unenlightened  citizen 
has  the  power  of  the  vote. 

Education  has  certainly  taken  a  deeper  hold  of  France 
than  of  England ;  it  is  more  widely  spread.  You  are 
immediately  struck  with  this  when  in  conversation  with 
members  of  the  working  classes.  They  display  an  ability 
to  clothe  thoughts  with  language  which  is  far  superior  to 
that  of  the  same  class  in  England.  The  little  employe  in 
the  shops,  the  barber's  assistant,  the  women  who  sell 
journals  from  the  kiosks,  or  fruit  and  vegetables  from  a 
barrow,  perpetually  astonish  the  stranger  by  the  aptness 
and  intelligence  of  their  remarks  conveyed  in  a  language 
that  is  without  a  taint  of  those  vulgarities  which  affect  the 
speech  of  the  lower-class  Londoner.  Education  at  the 
various  establishments  does  not  leave  its  hall-mark  on 
accent  as  in  England.     You  do  not  distinguish,  by  the 


FRENCH   EDUCATION  275 

tone  and  temper  of  his  speech,  the  Sorbonne  or  College  de 
France  student  from  the  ordinary  man  of  business,  for  both 
classes  speak  equally  well  ;  in  England  there  would  be  a 
hundred  inflections  to  guide  you  in  your  diagnosis  of  the 
intellectual  origin  of  the  speaker.  Education  is  diffused 
in  France. 

Classics  are  taught  on  a  rational  system  in  the  secondary 
schools.  Precious  years  are  not  lost  in  acquiring  the 
rudiments  and  refinements  of  a  dead  tongue.  Greek  and 
Latin  are  recognized  as  dead  in  France,  whilst  in  England 
they  are  always  being  resuscitated  by  painful  methods. 
The  young  man  can  obtain  his  baccalaureate  with  a  mini- 
mum of  Greek  and  Latin  ;  it  is  even  possible  to  escape 
them  altogether.  But  that  does  not  mean  that  he  will  be 
ignorant  of  the  great  classic  works  of  antiquity ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  will  probably  have  a  fuller  sense  of  their  beauties 
than  many  an  English  schoolboy  who  has  spent  years  in 
learning  syntax  and  in  a  futile  attempt  to  turn  out  Greek 
and  Latin  verse.     The  French  boy  learns  by  translations,   l^' 

Yet  Hellenic  studies  are  as  deeply  pursued  in  France  by 
an  elite  as  they  are  in  England,  where  they  have  become 
the  synonym  of  a  liberal  education.  French  versions  often 
show  a  scholarship  unsurpassed  by  any  efforts  of  Oxford. 
One  result  of  restricted  numbers  in  Greek  is  the  develop- 
ment of  a  higher  standard  and  of  greater  enthusiasm  for 
study.  Yet  the  trend  of  all  education  in  France  is  practi-  ^ 
cal.  The  bulk  of  a  boy's  school  hours  is  passed  in  the 
society  of  moderns.  The  history  of  other  countries  and 
times  is  only  employed  to  throw  light  upon  his  own.  It  is 
impossible  for  him  to  leave  school  without  a  considerable 
knowledge  of  the  principal  happenings  of  his  own  epoch. 
The  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  ordinary  English  public- 
schoolboy.  The  French  boy  will  have,  also,  a  large  --^ 
acquaintance  with  science. 


2  76  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH  ^ 

The  educational  ideals  pursued  in  the  two  countries 
present  a  great  contrast.  A  wide  channel  separates  the 
two  systems.  "■  A  nation  of  pure  intellect,"  Meredith 
called  the  French,  and  nothing  could  be  more  intellectual 
than  their  conception  of  education.  In  England,  the 
formation  of  character  plays  so  large  a  part  that  we  are  in 
danger  of  forgetting  the  importance  of  developing  the 
reasoning  faculties.  I  have  pointed  out  that  the  material- 
istic teaching  in  French  schools  has  provoked  a  revolt 
amongst  parents,  who  realize  that  education  is  not  mere 
book-knowledge.  This  class  deplores,  not  simply  the 
absence  of  religious  instruction,  but  of  all  ideals  of  an 
altruistic  character.  Boys  and  girls  of  the  present  genera- 
tion are  given  little  moral  impulse  towards  the  perfect 
citizenship.  That  side  is  neglected.  Patriotism  and 
.  chivalry,  Divine  justice,  and  the  beauty  of  good  deeds,  are 
V  not  sufficiently  insisted  upon  by  masters  in  the  elementary 
schools,  who  show  a  perverse  tendency  to  warp  every 
generous  theme  to  their  own  agnostic  and  cynical  ideas. 
The  body  of  teachers  in  France,  though  it  contains  many 
noble  men  and  women,  is  curiously  inclined  to  adopt  a 
pose  which  appears  to  be  based  on  the  mischievous  propa- 
ganda of  Socialist  and  Anti-Militarist  demagogues. 

There  is,  to-day,  a  reaction  against  this  undue  stimulus 
of  the  intellectual  faculties  at  the  expense  of  physical 
culture.  A  sensible  effort  has  been  made,  during  the  last 
few  years,  to  copy  the  English  system,  whereby  a  boy  shall 
have  broad  shoulders  and  a  straight  back  and  a  robust 
constitution  as  well  as  the  necessary  mental  qualifications 
for  a  liberal  career.  In  some  of  the  lycees  in  Paris, 
notably  the  Lycee  Janson,  an  attempt  is  made  to  incul- 
cate a  sporting  spirit  in  the  boys  and  give  them  games. 
Schools,  also,  have  been  established,  like  the  College  de 
Normandie,  right  in  the  country,  where  the  pupils  have 


FRENCH   EDUCATION  277 

instilled  into  them  an  "  esprit  de  corps  "  and  a  British  love 
of  fair  play.  This  is  accompanied  by  a  close  and  fraternal 
surveillance  by  the  masters,  who  have  in  mind  the  moral 
and  corporeal,  as  well  as  the  purely  intellectual,  needs  of 
the  boy.  An  excellent  beginning  has  been  made.  If  the 
movement  does  not  go  faster,  it  is  due  to  two  reasons : 
first,  the  fear  that  the  boy  will  not  be  successful  in  his 
examination  if  he  spends  a  reasonable  time  in  the  playing- 
field  ;  and  secondly,  the  horror  of  French  mothers  that  their 
darlings  should  hurt  themselves  in  rough  games.  Both 
these  prejudices  are  being  overcome.  It  has  been  discovered 
that  the  boy  of  robust  health  is  better  qualified  than  his 
sickly  brother  to  stand  the  strain  of  the  examination  halls  ; 
and,  secondly,  the  French  mother  is  learning  to  be  as  proud 
of  her  son's  prowess  in  the  playing-field  as  she  was  formerly 
when  he  carried  away  a  stack  of  books  at  the  prize  distri- 
bution. As  I  mention  in  "Social  Influences,"  the  renais- 
sance of  sport  is  a  remarkable  symptom  of  twentieth- 
century  developme  nt.  Everywhere  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Paris,  where  open  space  is  available,  boys  play  football, 
and  teams  of  young  Frenchmen  are  slowly  working  up  to 
a  first-class  position  under  both  Rugby  and  Association 
rules.  Nor  is  the  movement  confined  to  Paris  ;  it  has 
extended  to  the  Provinces.  Bordeaux  has  an  excellent 
football  team. 

The  fact  that  the  Government  holds  the  education  of 
the  country  in  its  hands,  makes  the  career  of  teaching  a 
Civil  Service,  and  the  schoolmaster  a  Civil  servant  The 
"  ecoles  normales,"  or  Training  Colleges,  constitute  a  re- 
markable system,  whereby  the  teaching  profession  (both  for 
men  and  women)  is  recruited  in  France  for  the  secondary 
and  elementary  schools.  The  highest  educational  title  to 
which  a  young  man  or  woman  can  aspire  is  the  "  agrega- 
tion."    It  is  an  extremely  difficult  examination,  comparable 


278  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

with  a  professorship  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge ;  it  is, 
moreover,  competitive.  The  number  passed  each  year 
is  strictly  limited  to  the  number  of  vacancies  existing  in 
the  State  schools.  It  is  in  the  interest  of  the  Government 
not  to  cheapen  this  qualification,  so  as  to  allow  the 
possessors  of  it  to  teach  in  the  rival  "  free  "  schools.  Thus, 
the  latter  are  handicapped  by  having  a  lower  educational 
stratum  to  choose  from,  even  supposing  their  financial 
resources  warrant  them  in  engaging  the  highest  teaching 
talent. 

The  baccalaureate  is  the  main-door  to  every  professional 
and  university  distinction.  Yet  the  university  is  not 
regarded  as  the  crowning  point  as  it  is  in  England. 
Having  attained  his  baccalaureate,  the  young  man  usually 
passes  on  to  his  professional  schools,  unless  he  is  destined 
for  the  Law,  or  for  a  professorship.  After  the  baccalaureate, 
comes  the  "licence,"  an  intermediate  degree  comparable 
with  Moderations  at  Oxford,  but  the  standard  is  equivalent 
to  a  full  degree.  This  obstacle  having  been  surmounted, 
the  student  selects  the  subject  in  which  he  intends  to 
specialize :  history,  mathematics,  philosophy,  classics,  or 
natural  science.  Unless  he  aims  at  one  of  the  highest 
posts  in  the  educational  world,  he  generally  limits  his 
ambition  to  the  doctorate,  which  is  the  next  step  after  the 
"  licence."  The  "doctorat"  implies  a  thesis,  which  may  be 
an  original  and  brilliant  study,  or  a  plain  "  rechauffe "  of 
other  people's  theories. 

.  The  schools  are  the  great  nursery  for  men  of  letters,  and 
for,  indeed,  every  public  career  in  France.  Taine,  Sarcey, 
and  About,  to  cite  only  three  cases,  were  schoolmasters 
before  they  entered  literature ;  Parliamentarians  are  fre- 
quently recruited  from  this  "  milieu."  The  democratization 
of  education  is  seen  in  the  higher  ranks.  Professors  come 
frequently  from   the  "ecoles   primaires,"  having  worked 


FRENCH   EDUCATION  279 

their  way  up  with  practically  no  home  advantages.  The 
chief  ornaments  of  the  teaching  profession  at  the  Sor- 
bonne,  for  instance,  are  men  of  the  humblest  origin,  who 
have  conquered  every  step  of  the  way  by  indomitable 
perseverance.  Culture  in  the  Oxonian  sense,  they  have 
not  at  all ;  learning,  they  possess  to  a  much  higher  degree 
than  their  English  and  American  "  confreres."  It  is  signi- 
ficant that  when  Frenchmen  arrive  at  a  professoriate  they 
are  not  content  to  write  text-books  for  youths  of  eighteen, 
as  the  leisurely  Dons  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  are 
prone  to  do,  but  contribute  learned  treatises  on  their  sub- 
jects which  represent  research  and  are  of  European  value. 
The  French  educational  edifice  has  been  constructed  of 
grey  matter,  independent  of  moral  fibre.  It  is  too  ex- 
clusively intellectual.  There  is  no  space  for  other  con- 
siderations in  the  modern  curriculum.  Some  notions  of 
conduct  are  inculcated  in  the  primary  schools — the  exact 
quality  varies  considerably — but  in  the  secondary  schools  A   Lt/^ 

there  is,  admittedly,  no  effort  made  in  this  direction.  Thd*6/V/*^f^^^ 
splendid,  vigorous,  wholesome  comradeship  of  the  English 
universities,  as  represented  by  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  is 
largely  lacking  from  the  universities  of  France.  In  the 
dozen  or  more  universities  that  exist  in  Paris  and  the 
provincial  centres,  there  is  no  system  of  residence  in  vogue. 
The  students  live  how  and  where  they  like,  merely  attend- 
ing classes  at  fixed  hours  in  the  university  buildings,  and 
passing  various  oral  and  written  examinations.  Beyond 
that,  they  are  entirely  without  the  scope  of  university 
influence  and  discipline,  save  in  the  case  where  their  con- 
duct brings  them  directly  within  the  purview  of  the  law. 
At  heart  your  French  student  is  a  "  frondeur."  His  train- 
ing, from  his  earliest  infancy,  makes  him  a  confirmed 
individualist ;  hence  it  would  be  difficult,  nay,  impossible, 
to  establish  a  system  analogous  to  that  of  the  old  English 

I 


28o        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

universities.  The  Sorbonne  has,  of  course,  its  traditions, 
traditions  that  reach  back  to  the  Middle  Ages,  to  a  period 
anterior  to  that  of  our  oldest  University  ;  but  the  other 
great  teaching  centres  are,  with  few  exceptions,  of  modern 
creation.  No ;  any  adoption  of  the  English  system,  by 
which  I  mean  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  system,  is  out 
of  the  question.  Nor  would  it  be  advisable.  The  French 
understand  their  needs,  and  are  no  doubt  fulfilling  them. 
At  the  same  time,  reform  might,  with  advantage,  take 
place,  both  in  reducing  the  time-table  of  the  schools  to 
reasonable  limits,  and  in  devoting  a  large  portion  of  the 
school  hours  to  moral  culture.  In  the  playground,  atten- 
tion should  certainly  be  given  to  physical  education ; 
hygienic  surroundings,  too,  should  be  insisted  upon  for  the 
schools. 

It  must  not  be  assumed  that  no  movement  of  the  sort  is 
going  on.  Here  and  in  preceding  chapters  I  have  already 
touched  upon  the  development  of  sport;  the  good  influence 
of  it  has  spread  to  the  schools.  A  great  advance  has  been 
made  during  the  past  thirty  or  forty  years.  Lycdes,  to 
which  a  former  generation  went,  resembled  barracks  in 
their  cast-iron  regulations,  in  the  monotony  of  the  food  and 
in  the  infrequency  of  baths.  In  a  recent  book  of  memoirs, 
the  writer  speaks  of  the  monthly  bath  at  the  Lycee  being 
the  regular  institution  in  the  latter  days  of  the  Empire. 
Even  now,  the  bathing  accommodation  is  extremely  de- 
fective in  Paris  and  provincial  lycees.  Doubtless,  also,  the 
defects  of  the  table  contributed  to  the  anaemia  and  non- 
chalance of  the  lads.  Yet  it  is  only  too  true  that  many 
English  schools  are  sadly  wanting  in  this  respect.  These 
things  are  being  slowly  rectified,  but  the  lycee  in  its  inward 
and,  often,  in  its  outward  aspect,  is  an  unlovely  institution, 
not  at  all  comparable  with  the  splendid  colleges  in  England, 
where,  in  pleasant  surroundings,  the  well-to-do  youth  of 


FRENCH   EDUCATION  281 

the  nation  imbibe  learning  mitigated  by  healthful  hours  in 
umbrageous  playing-fields.  Nor  can  serious  amelioration 
of  the  condition  of  the  French  boy  be  looked  for  until  his 
schools  have  been  moved  bodily  out  into  the  country.  For 
the  moment,  the  lycees  are  situated  in  the  middle  of  towns, 
where  it  is  impossible  to  get  either  good  air  br  playground 
accommodation. 

There  is  a  certain  difference  between  the  lycee  and  the 
college.  The  colleges,  of  which  the  most  noted  are  the 
Chaptal  and  Rollin  in  Paris,  are  municipal  institutions, 
subject  to  a  more  or  less  active  State  control.  The  funds 
are  furnished  by  the  municipality,  but  the  teaching  has  to 
bear  the  Government  stamp.  The  two  elements  clash  a 
little  in  the  administration  of  these  institutions,  for  the 
municipality  of  Paris  has  a  trick  of  being  a  little  in  advance 
of  or  a  little  behind  the  Government  hour.  The  -^diles 
are  either  too  Socialistic  or  too  Nationalist  for  the  Cabinet, 
which  represents  the  Republican  mean.  These  colleges 
give  an  instruction  differing,  somewhat,  from  that  of  the 
lycee,  and  resembling  the  English  grammar  school.  They 
are  destined  chiefly  for  boys  who  arc  going  into  mercantile 
occupations  and  have  no  need  of  the  advanced  studies  of 
the  lycees,  which  coach  for  the  high  professional  schools. 
The  modern,  as  opposed  to  the  classical  side,  is  largely 
developed  in  a  college ;  indeed,  one  may  say  that  the 
modern  side  "  has  it "  in  French  educational  establishments 
of  the  present  day.  The  tendency  is  to  become  more  and 
more  modern  and  utilitarian,  relying  less  on  those  great 
instruments  of  civilization  and  polish,  Greek  and  Latin. 
But  here,  again,  a  reaction  is  visible. 

Reference  to  the  preparation  by  the  lycees  for  the  pro- 
fessional schools  brings  us  to  a  cursory  survey  of  these 
establishments.  The  first,  and  the  most  popular,  is  the 
Ecole  Polytechnique.     It  is  destined  to  furnish  the  State 


282  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

with  civil  and  military  engineers,  and  it  succeeds  admirably. 
It  is  a  distinctively  military  academy,  having  at  its  head  a 
general.  The  students  are  under  military  discipline  and 
wear  a  military  uniform.  The  studies  are  very  advanced. 
The  college  practically  dates  from  Revolutionary  times  and 
has  alv/ays  had  a  Revolutionary  bias.  It  has  taken  part  in 
all  the  popular  movements  of  the  past  hundred  years,  and 
has,  in  consequence,  endeared  itself  to  the  people  of  Paris, 
who  are,  traditionally,  "agin'  the  Government."  Napoleon 
flattered  the  school  by  placing  it  at  the  head  of  his  army 
on  parade  days,  but  this  did  not  win  its  loyalty  or  affection  ; 
it  was  on  the  side  of  the  barricade,  though  it  took  no  part 
in  the  Commune.  On  the  other  hand,  the  conduct  of 
Polytechnicians  was  splendid  during  the  siege  of  Paris. 
They  took  their  place  in  the  trenches,  and,  on  occasion, 
assumed  command.  The  course  is  two  years  at  this  school, 
and  the  finished  cadet  furnishes  the  best  engineering  brains 
in  France.  Another  military  school,  almost  as  noted,  is  St. 
Cyr.  Its  uniform  is  one  of  the  most  familiar  in  the  streets 
of  Paris.  The  brilliant  blue  tunic  and  red  trousers,  with 
broad  blue  stripe,  are  completed  by  a  cap  with  cock's 
feathers.  On  leaving  the  school,  cadets  are  appointed  to 
commissions  in  the  cavalry  and  foot  regiments.  The  Two 
Years'  Service  Law  has  operated  certain  changes  in  these 
schools.  Each  candidate  is  now  required  to  serve  one  year 
with  the  colours,  before  entering  upon  his  two  years' 
course  of  study  in  the  school.  Under  the  former  regime, 
he  was  exempted  from  service  under  arms.  The  innovation 
will  probably  not  hurt  either  the  physique  or  the  general 
character  of  St.  Cyr  and  the  Polytechnique. 

The  "  Ecole  Centrale  des  Arts  et  Manufactures  "  shares 
with  the  Polytechnique  the  distinction  of  being  the  nursery 
of  engineers  ;  there  are  other  famous  schools  such  as  the 
"  Fonts  et  Chaussdes  "  and  the  "  Ecole  des  Mines,"  which 


FRENCH   EDUCATION  283 

indicate  their  missions  in  their  titles.  The  "  Ecole  des 
Sciences  Politiques"  needs,  also,  no  detailed  description. 
It  is  intended  for  young  diplomats  and  is  of  private 
foundation. 

I  suppose  one  of  the  best  known  to  foreigners  is  the  "Ecole 
des  Beaux  Arts,"  which  attracts  so  many  student  painters, 
sculptors,  and  architects  from  all  over  the  world.  A  wonder- 
ful training  is  given  within  its  walls ;  its  highest  prize,  the 
famous  Prix  de  Rome,  carries  with  it  the  right  of  residence 
for  study  at  the  Villa  Medicis  in  the  Eternal  City.  The 
Government  keeps  up  several  schools  of  this  sort,  one  at 
Athens  and  one  at  Cairo  for  the  study  of  archaeology. 

Technical  education  dovetails  into  the  primary  schools 
with  scientific  nicety.  It  is  splendidly  organized  in  France, 
and  a  network  of  schools  abound  for  the  teaching  of  arts 
and  crafts ;  they  are  generally  under  mixed  State  and 
municipal  auspices.  No  young  man  of  energy  or  aptitude 
need  be  without  specialized  instruction.  The  French 
system  offers  a  striking  contrast  with  that  of  England, 
where  technical  education  is  haphazard  and  sterile.  There 
is,  however,  an  improvement  to  be  noted  during  the  past 
few  years  ;  but  we  are  still  hopelessly  in  the  rear  compared 
either  with  France  or  Germany. 

One  reason  why  the  French  youth  pressed  forward  in 
his  educational  course  was  his  desire  to  profit  by  the 
shortened  period  of  military  service  open  to  those  who 
satisfied  the  examiners  in  the  baccalaureate.  This  ex- 
emption no  longer  exists,  since  the  Two  Years'  Law  now 
requires  that  term  of  service  from  every  male  citizen  of 
France.  Hence,  this  is  a  reason  the  more  for  loosening 
the  bond  of  education,  besides  the  reaction  against  an  over- 
intellectuality  which  I  have  noted  above.  The  probability 
is  that  young  men,  having  nothing  to  gain  from  passing 
their  degrees  before  the  age  of  military  service,  will  con- 


J 


284        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

tent  themselves  with  less  scholastic  absorption  and  devote 
themselves  to  games  and  outdoor  sports,  thus  increasing  the 
vigour  and  health  of  the  community.  This  is  a  consumma- 
tion devoutly  to  be  wished.  One  may  remark  that  the 
expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  has  led  many  parents  to  send  to 
England  boys  who  formerly  attended  schools  conducted 
by  the  Orders  or  Congregations.  One  of  the  most  fashion- 
able of  the  non-Governmental  colleges  is  the  College 
Stanislas,  whence  issued  M.  Edmond  Rostand  and  other 
distinguished  pupils. 

A  fruitful  source  of  discussion  would  be  provided  by 
the  inquiry  whether  non-religious  teaching  in  the  schools 
is  really  responsible  for  the  juvenile  depravity  that  appears 
to  exist  in  France  at  this  moment.  Subjects  of  this  sort 
must  be  treated  on  broad  lines,  in  no  narrow,  party  spirit. 
One  must  frankly  admit  (as  I  insist  in  the  chapter  on 
Clericalism)  that  the  Church  has  lost  its  proud  position, 
that  quite  half  the  population  shows  an  indifference,  if  not 
hostility,  to  Catholic  tenets,  and  that  the  whole  country  is 
evolving  in  some  direction  towards  a  new  order  of  morality 
and  of  social  existence.  It  would  be  presumptuous  for  any 
writer  to  attempt  to  prove  that  non-sectarian  teaching, 
such  as  has  existed  in  the  schools  for  the  last  forty  years, 
has  really  succeeded  in  lowering  the  standard  of  morality 
in  the  people,  or  rather,  has  taken  all  sense  of  the  ideal 
from  the  younger  generation.  This  I  do  not  believe  to  be 
the  case.  I  think  that  the  degeneration,  which  is  notice- 
able, is  to  be  attributed  to  other  causes.  One  of  these 
causes  is  the  prosperity  of  France  at  the  present  moment 
— a  collective  prosperity  unequalled  by  any  other  country. 
I  use  the  word  "  collective  "  because,  whilst  other  nations 
possess  more  classes  of  citizens  enjoying  greater  fortunes 
than  the  richest  men  in  France,  there  is  no  country  in  the 
world  where  wealth  is  more  evenly  distributed.     With  this 


FRENCH   EDUCATION  285 

wealth  has  grown  up  a  taste  for  luxury,  hitherto  unknown, 
and  a  desire  for  more  wealth.  There  is  a  worship  of  money, 
which  robs  the  youth  of  the  country  of  nobler  aspirations, 
and  is  the  cause  of  many  of  the  revolting  crimes  which 
have  stained  the  pages  of  French  history  during  the  last 
few  years.  It  is,  at  least,  peculiar  that  many  of  the  men 
who  have  received  a  clerical  instruction  have  turned  from 
the  Faith  of  their  fathers  to  Free  Thought.  Hence  it  would 
seem  that  religious  instruction  is  not  always  a  safeguard 
in  after  life. 

In  conclusion,  one  may  ask  whether,  in  giving  to  educa- 
tion its  utmost  logical  development,  the  French  have  not 
left  out,  by  a  grievous  oversight,  the  ethical  side — those 
delicate,  elusive  elements  from  the  crucible,  which  give 
richness  and  harmony  to  the  whole. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE    FRENCH  JUDICIAL   SYSTEM 

NOTHING  could  be  more  typical  of  the  French 
character  than  the  judicial  system.  The  Judge 
is  not  the  serene  and  impartial  creature  which 
English  law  and  custom  have  made  him,  but  acts  with  a 
petulance  and  an  apparent  eagerness  to  convict  that  amaze 
the  foreigner  habituated  to  Anglo-Saxon  methods.  It  has 
been  often  remarked  that  the  Judge  of  an  Assize  Court  is 
practically  a  prosecuting  attorney  searching  to  obtain  re- 
sults, plying  the  wretched  prisoner  with  question  after 
question  until  he  has  secured  condemnation  out  of  the 
victim's  own  mouth.  Moreover,  he  often  shows  prejudices 
of  an  extraordinary  kind  and  exercises  Satanic  ingenuity 
in  discovering  weak  places  in  the  prisoner's  defence. 

There  is,  however,  some  logical  and  scientific  basis  for 
the  French  system,  or  it  would  never  have  been  adopted. 
Napoleon,  who  knew  the  weaknesses  of  the  French  better 
than  any  man,  gave  them  their  Criminal  Code,  as  well  as 
most  of  the  institutions  they  now  possess.  And  that 
Criminal  Code  is  especially  framed  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  daily  existence  in  France.  The  great  Emperor  saw 
that  he  could  not  allow  too  large  a  liberty  to  the  prisoner 
to  defend  himself  by  the  silent  system  adopted  in  Eng- 
land. He  saw  that  the  Latin  temperament  required 
special  treatment,  and  that  the  accused  must  be  goaded 
on,  by  a  succession  of  intellectual  pin-pricks,  to  confess 

286 


THE  FRENCH   JUDICIAL  SYSTEM  287 

his  guilt  Nor  is  false  swearing  regarded  as  the  heinous 
offence  that  it  is  in  England.  Thus,  discrepancy  of  state- 
ment does  not  weigh  as  heavily  against  the  prisoner  as 
in  English  Courts,  where  lying  is  held  in  especial  abhor- 
rence by  judge  and  jury. 

The  licence  given  to  witnesses  is,  also,  quite  contrary  to 
Anglo-Saxon  tradition.  If  the  neighbour  has  a  grudge 
against  the  wretched  creature  in  the  criminal's  dock,  he 
has  every  opportunity  of  indulging  it  by  uttering  in- 
nuendoes and  the  most  damning  "  obiter  dicta."  Rarely 
the  judge  stops  him  from  gratifying  his  spite  to  the  fullest 
extent.  "  Ex-parte  "  statements  of  the  most  extravagant 
sort  pass  unchallenged  in  the  mouth  of  a  venomous  wit- 
ness who,  in  ten  minutes,  has  raked  up  enough  about  the 
prisoner's  antecedents  to  guillotine  half  a  dozen  people. 

I  have  said  that  a  logical  and  scientific  basis  exists  for 
all  this.  That  basis  is  the  desire  of  the  judicature  to 
create  an  atmosphere  about  the  prisoner.  His  aura  is 
examined  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  student  of  the  occult. 
Is  it  a  bad  aura  or  a  good  one?  These  investigations, 
these  minute  questions  of  ancestry,  atavism,  early  pro- 
clivities and  the  rest,  will  tell  us.  We  shall  get  a  com- 
plete picture  of  the  man.  But,  like  many  things  admirable 
in  theory,  the  system  is  odious  in  practice.  It  surrounds 
the  prisoner,  certainly,  with  an  atmosphere,  but  it  is  gener- 
ally unfavourable — an  atmosphere  charged  with  prejudice,  ^*' 
an  atmosphere  created  by  the  malevolence  of  neighbours. 
Every  tiny  act  in  a  man's  life  is  construed  and  magnified 
into  something  contributing  to  his  present  state  of  mind. 
Imagine  the  cruelty  of  questioning  the  prisoner  about 
some  trivial  action  which  exposed  him  to  prosecution 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  years  before !  It  is  possible  he 
was  not  guilty,  but  it  makes  no  difference.  The  horrid 
fact  that  he  was  brought  to  court,  though  unjustly,  is  now 


288        FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

dragged  into  the  light  of  day  and  blackened  according  to 
the  fancy  of  the  prosecution.  In  a  recent  sensational 
murder  trial  the  judge  was  careful  to  elicit  the  damning 
fact,  in  his  examination  of  the  prisoner,  that,  at  the  tender 
age  of  four,  she  told  lies.  The  "  atmosphere  "  begins  early 
and  leaves  off  late. 

Then,  again,  there  is  the  terrible  system  known  as  "  the 
reconstitution  of  the  scene."  "  The  play's  the  thing,  Where- 
in to  catch  the  conscience  of  the  King."  That  is  the 
principle  upon  which  the  investigating  magistrate  acts.  It 
is  one  of  the  chief  planks  in  the  institution  known  as  "  in- 
struction." The  prisoner  is  led  to  the  place  of  the  crime ; 
he  is  shown  the  bed  upon  which  the  victim  reposed,  and 
then  policemen  or  lay  figures  represent  that  victim,  and 
the  horrid  drama  of  the  supposed  crime  is  carried  out 
before  the  eyes  of  the  accused.  His  demeanour  is  closely 
watched  during  this  ordeal.  If  he  blenches  or  seems  to 
give  himself  away  by  an  hysterical  breakdown  or  in- 
voluntary exclamation,  it  is  recorded  against  him  and 
used  with  great  effect  by  the  judge  at  the  Assize  Court, 
This  is  a  survival  of  the  medieval  torture  chamber,  only 
mitigated  by  the  fact  that,  if  the  "  juge  d'instruction " 
plays  with  his  client  as  a  cat  does  a  mouse,  the  mouse  is 
allowed  to  be  very  cheeky.  Under  a  recent  law,  the 
magistrate  cannot  hold  a  tete-a-tete  with  the  prisoner 
without  the  presence  of  counsel.  This  is  excellent  in 
principle,  and  was  the  result  of  agitation  against  the 
secret  system.  At  the  same  time,  many  authorities  regret 
the  alteration.  A  well-known  "chef  de  la  SOrete,"  M. 
Goron,  explained  to  me  that  this  employment  of  counsel 
at  the  earlier  stages  of  the  inquiry  blocked  the  process  of 
investigation  and  thwarted  the  ends  of  justice.  Under 
the  old  system,  the  prisoner,  unattended  by  a  legal  adviser, 
was  tempted  to  betray  himself ;  he  grew  expansive.    But, 


THE   FRENCH   JUDICIAL   SYSTEM  289 

nowadays,  even  his  communications  with  the  gendarmes 
who  arrested  him  were  restrained  by  the  thought  that  he 
need  confess  nothing  at  all,  and  that  he  would  be  defended 
at  the  very  outset.  This  might  be  very  well  for  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  temperament,  observed  M.  Goron,  but  the  results 
had  not  been  good  in  France.  It  is  not,  as  a  rule,  advis- 
able for  any  country  of  settled  civilization  to  import  its 
judicial  system. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  convictions  become  increasingly  diffi- 
cult to  obtain,  the  prisoner  finding  loopholes  in  the  laws 
of  which  he  was  formerly  ignorant.  The  change  is  due, 
no  doubt,  to  the  ingenuity  of  counsel.  The  eloquence  of 
the  lawyer  has  bigger  scope  in  a  French  court  than  in  an 
English,  though  American  counsel  have,  apparently,  very 
much  the  same  latitude.  French  barristers  are  like  actors 
in  the  freedom  of  their  gestures  and  in  the  force  and 
vigour  of  their  language.  They  make  direct  appeal  to 
the  feelings  of  the  jury.  "  Ah,  messieurs,  this  young  man 
has  a  mother  who  is  waiting,  with  tear-stained  face  and 
choking  sobs,  the  result  of  your  verdict.  Do  you  mean 
to  say  you  are  going  to  send  him  to  the  guillotine  or  to 
expatriate  him  for  the  rest  of  his  natural  life  to  the  torrid 
climate  of  Cayenne?  Consider  the  sufferings  of  the 
mother,  Messieurs  les  Jures  !  Imagine  what  your  own 
mother  would  feel  were  you  sentenced  for  a  crime  you  did 
not  commit ! " 

He  continues  in  this  strain  until,  under  the  stimulus  of 
emotion,  the  jury  break  down  and  weep.  This  is  the 
lawyer's  golden  opportunity.  *'  Gentlemen,  you  weep," 
he  says,  pointing  with  triumphant  finger ;  "  this  is  a  start- 
ling proof  of  the  innocence  of  my  client.  Would  your 
hearts  be  touched  by  the  defence  of  a  rogue?  Never. 
Then  you  must  acquit  the  prisoner  at  the  bar." 

Reasoning  of  this  sort,  in  the  royal  manner  of  Buzfuz, 
19 


290  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

is  effective  with  French  juries,  who  love  the  appeal  to  the 
emotional  side  and  a  theatrical  display  of  forensic  elo- 
quence. The  most  hardened  criminal  can,  apparently, 
escape  if  he  is  fortunate  enough  to  engage  a  man  of  the 
oratorical  ability  of,  say,  Maitre  Henri  Robert,  of  the 
Paris  Bar,  a  most  ingenious  pleader,  and  master  of  all 
the  arts  of  rhetoric.  There  is,  however,  a  point  at  which 
this  sort  of  thing  becomes  dangerous,  and  when  the 
arm  of  the  law  is  weakened  and  the  wrong-doer  goes 
unpunished.  A  great  deal  of  the  recrudescence  of  crime 
in  the  large  cities  in  France  is  due  to  the  pusillanimity  of 
the  magistrates,  who  often  fail  to  convict,  when  the  evi- 
dence is  conclusive.  It  is  difficult  to  explain  such  deplor- 
able leniency ;  possibly  politics  have  something  to  do 
with  it.  It  is  notorious  that  the  Apache,  or  disreputable 
character,  caught  by  the  police  in  suspicious  circumstances, 
often  produces  a  workman's  card  identifying  him  with 
a  professional  syndicate.  It  is,  also,  a  fact  that  some  of 
the  most  hardened  law-breakers  are  useful  to  the  poli- 
ticians in  much  the  same  way  that  the  "  ward-heelers  "  are 
to  the  Tammany  organization.  Whatever  the  reason, 
there  has  been  an  outbreak  of  lawlessness  which  has 
caused  alarm  in  France. 

To  this  circumstance  is  partly  due  the  restoration  of  the 
guillotine,  which  has  been  kept  busy  since  its  installation 
and  has  supplied  the  newspapers  with  gory  and  ghastly 
details.  In  my  prefatory  remarks,  I  mention  that  the 
Revolutionary  taste  for  blood  has  descended  to  the  pres- 
ent generation.  Is  not  the  eagerness,  with  which  the 
guillotine  was  again  set  up,  symptomatic?  The  lust  to 
kill  has  broken  out  again  in  the  French  people.  Whether 
we  see  in  that  cry  for  capital  punishment  a  reversion  to 
the  type  of  '89,  a  return  to  the  strong  appetites  of 
the  " tricoteuses,"  at  any  rate,  the  sinister  "Widow"   is 


THE   FRENCH    JUDICIAL   SYSTEM  291 

again  invoked  to  check  the  sanguinary  impulses  of  the 
younger  generation,  and  Parliament  and  the  Press  have 
united  to  thrust  out  of  life  those  who  appear  so  unworthy 
to  enjoy  it.  Yet  the  "  etalage  "  that  results,  the  pandering 
to  gruesome  appetites,  the  morbid  literature  that  has  been 
inspired  are  certainly  set-backs  to  any  advantages  that 
may  accrue  from  the  public  beheading  of  the  assassin. 
And  he,  himself,  dies,  the  poor  wretch,  not  in  the  odour  of 
sanctity,  but  with  the  gloriole  of  a  public  parade.  In  his 
imagination,  he  is  a  great  performer  on  the  world's  stage, 
a  hero  playing  with  his  own  life  for  a  few  intoxicating 
moments  of  notoriety. 

It  may  be  asked  why  the  French  authorities  do  not 
adopt  secret  executions  such  as  exist  in  England  and 
America.  The  reason  is  simple.  The  French  crowd  is 
suspicious  and  would  never  believe,  unless  it  saw  with  its 
own  eyes,  that  the  culprit  had  paid  the  death  penalty.  It 
would  always  suppose  that  there  had  been  secret  influences 
at  work  to  secure  the  man's  escape  and  that,  at  the  last 
moment,  he  had  been  got  safely  out  of  the  way  while 
some  mock  execution  took  place.  Overweening  con- 
fidence in  his  rulers  is  certainly  not  part  of  the  mental 
make-up  of  the  modern  Frenchman. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  drawbacks  of  the  French  system : 
the  semi-secret  and  searching  character  of  the  preliminary 
investigation,  and  the  cruelty  of  the  judge's  examination 
of  the  prisoner.  We  have  less  hesitation  in  mentioning 
these  things  because  they  have  been  the  subject  of  much 
comment  by  the  French,  who  have  set  their  hands  to  the 
work  of  modification  and  reform.  Some  judges  now 
abstain  from  the  "  interrogatoire,"  and  there  is  a  tendency 
to  repress  it  altogether.  In  the  same  way,  the  preliminary 
stages  of  "instruction"  are  undergoing  improvement, 
though  it  is  still  possible  for  an  innocent  man  to  be  locked 


292  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

up  and  kept  for  weeks  without  proper  trial.  In  the  place 
thereof  is  trial  by  newspaper,  if  the  crime  alleged  is 
sufficiently  sensational  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  Press. 
I  have  been  present  at  the  strangest  scenes  in  which 
journalists  attached  to  French  newspapers  have  screamed 
remarks  over  the  head  of  the  investigating  magistrate  at 
the  accused,  though,  by  some  pure  piece  of  technicality, 
they  were  actually  excluded  from  the  room  in  which  the 
supposed  secret  interrogation  was  going  on. 

The  presumed  purpose  and  original  intention  of  the 
"  instruction  "  was  quite  proper.  It  was  a  private  inquiry, 
discreetly  carried  out  by  the  police,  to  determine  whether 
a  person  should  be  formally  constituted  a  prisoner  and 
should  or  should  not  take  his  trial  before  an  Assize 
Court.  But,  nowadays,  it  is  practically  an  informal 
trial  of  the  person  in  which  every  fact  adduced,  or  sup- 
posed to  be  adduced,  is  set  forth  in  the  most  glowing 
language  in  the  Boulevard  organs.  The  custom  is  for  a 
short  resum6  of  the  day's  proceedings  to  be  handed  to  the 
Press  for  publication — that  is  the  regular  method — but 
modern  newspaper  enterprise  has  transformed  it  into 
something  quite  different.  It  is  now  an  embroidered  and 
perfumed  story  extended  to  many  columns,  in  which  the  case 
is  tried  in  advance  and  the  prisoner  guillotined  by  proxy. 

There  is  a  law  of  libel  in  France,  though  the  casual 
reader  of  the  ephemeral  Press  may  be  excused  for  not 
knowing  it.  It  is  rarely  invoked,  and,  when  it  is,  the  fine 
imposed  is  tantamount  to  a  sanction.  A  noteworthy 
exception  is  the  verdict  in  the  case  of  a  former  Minister 
of  Justice,  who  haled  his  editorial  traducer  before  the 
tribunal  and  secured  substantial  damages.  Since  that 
time,  the  newspaper  concerned  is  more  restrained  in  its 
comments  on  men  and  things.  It  is  in  danger  of  becoming 
prosaic ! 


THE   FRENCH   JUDICIAL   SYSTEM  293 

Whilst  a  strong  libel  law  is  a  security  to  innocence,  it  is 
also  a  shelter  to  the  wrong-doer,  who  fears  an  "  expose  " 
more  than  any  of  the  other  results  of  a  judicial  investigation. 
Considering  the  great  services  rendered  by  the  Press  of 
England  in  the  administration  of  the  laws  and  the  track- 
ing of  fugitives  from  justice,  legislation  is  outrageously 
unjust  towards  the  journalist,  particularly  in  such  a  matter 
as  contempt  of  court.  The  law  of  libel  has  not  changed 
with  the  changing  spirit  and  necessities  of  the  time.  One 
wonders  what  would  happen  if  judges  ran  newspapers. 
Would  there  be  any  "  news "  ?  Let  every  organ  of  in- 
formation be  an  adjunct  of  the  judicature  !  The  great 
advantage  of  the  system  of  free  comment  in  France  is 
that  nothing  is  hid.  Imagine  the  enormous  difficulties  of 
reopening  a  Dreyfus  case  in  England.  The  "  chose  jugee  " 
is  a  sacred  thing.  Scandals  arise  with  amazing  frequency 
in  France,  but  one  of  the  reasons  is  the  ambition  of  the 
Press  to  tell  everything.  There  is  thus  a  bad  side  of 
censorship,  just  as  there  is  a  good  side  of  reticence. 

Whilst  British  judges  prevent  undue  revelations,  so  the 
British  jury  turns  an  adamantine  face  towards  the  "  crime 
passionnel,"  though  I  observe  some  modification  of  this 
demeanour.  The  man  who  kills  his  wife  in  a  fit  of  jealous 
rage  gets  short  shrift.  "  Did  he  kill  the  woman  ? "  the 
jury  asks,  and,  if  the  reply  is  in  the  affirmative,  there  is 
hardly  likely  to  be  any  recommendation  to  the  judge. 

Henri  Rochefort  recounted  to  me  his  pained  surprise  at 
finding  a  man  in  England  (during  his  exile  there)  con- 
demned to  death  for  the  murder  of  his  wife  and  her  lover 
under  peculiar  provocation.  He  had  come  out  of  prison 
for  a  trivial  offence  to  discover  that  his  spouse  had  left 
the  house,  and  taken  his  belongings.  Coming  upon  her, 
shortly  afterwards,  accompanied  by  a  man,  he  killed  them 
both  and  was  hanged  for  it.     To  a  Frenchman  of  the  old 


294  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

school,  such  as  Henri  Rochefort,  the  judicial  denouement 
is  revolting  in  its  cruelty. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  the  jury  was  not  right  in 
its  verdict — society  must  be  protected,  whatever  the 
grievances  of  the  slayer — but  the  avenger  had  poetic 
justice  on  his  side.  In  France,  there  would  have  been  no 
conviction  on  the  capital  charge,  but  a  whittling  down  of 
the  crime  to  one  of  justifiable  homicide.  Thus,  differences 
in  mental  organization  are  seen  as  plainly  in  courts  as  in 
plays  and  books. 

With  all  its  defects,  the  French  system  rarely,  I  think, 
convicts  the  wrong  person.  Some  merciful  Providence 
intervenes  to  save  the  victim  from  an  unmerited  fate. 
Often  it  is  the  other  way  and  the  criminal  escapes,  owing 
to  an  excess  of  sentiment  or  because  some  agitation  is 
raised  and  a  Press  campaign  affects  the  popular  judgment. 

Closely  woven  with  the  judicial  system  is  the  system  of 
police  and  crime  detection.  Here,  again,  special  methods 
are  employed,  which  do  not  always  square  with  the  British 
notions  of  fair  play.  Gaboriau  imagined  and  Vidocq 
played  in  real  life  the  detective  of  a  different  stamp  from 
Sherlock  Holmes,  whose  exploits  are  already  famous  in 
France.  M.  Hamard,  the  present  head  of  the  Surete 
in  Paris  (191 1),  is  as  able  as  any  in  unearthing  crime, 
though  I  doubt  if  he  has  equalled  the  amazing  penetration 
of  Gaston  Leroux's  "  Rouletabille  " — even  more  wonderful 
than  Conan  Doyle's  hero— in  the  "  Mystery  of  the 
Yellow  Room."  But  the  police  "  en  chair  et  os  "  complain 
that  their  efficiency  is  marred  by  the  "  humanitarianism  "  of 
the  magistrates.  Part  of  the  growth  of  Apachedom  is 
traceable  to  this  cause.  The  young  ruffian  goes  un- 
punished. Judicial  authorities  have  awakened  to  the 
faults  of  the  Bench  and  have  addressed  a  circular  of 
remonstrance  to  the  magistrates  urging  severer  sentences 


THE   FRENCH   JUDICIAL   SYSTEM  295 

for  the  unlawful  use  of  arms,  and,  particularly,  for 
"  souteneurs,"  who  profit  pecuniarily  by  vice.  Notwith- 
standing the  fascinating  personality  of  Faux  Col,  Maude 
Annesley's  picturesque  Apache,  who  hypnotized  the 
English  artist,  Gonda  Bryne,  the  creature  is  rarely 
attractive,  either  physically  or  on  romantic  grounds,  and 
the  fact  that  he  so  often  lives  on  prostitution  robs  him 
even  of  the  perverted  glory  that  belongs  to  personal  risk 
in  pursuit  of  crime. 

Yet,  the  problem  is  difficult  to  handle,  going  deep  into 
the  root  of  things.  The  Apache  is  the  product  of  his 
time  and  its  peculiar  evils.  One  of  the  greatest  is  the 
suppression  of  the  apprentice  system,  caused  largely  by 
social  laws  prohibiting  the  employment  of  young  persons 
(as  well  as  women)  after  certain  hours.  There  results  a 
derangement  of  business  methods,  and  the  determination 
of  the  manufacturer  to  employ  only  adult  male  labour. 
Another  reason  is  equally  as  important.  Frenchwomen 
work  to  an  extent  unknown  in  England.  The  wife  of 
every  small  employe  contributes,  by  her  own  earnings,  to 
the  family  purse.  Hence,  there  is  little  home  life  for  the 
child.  On  his  return  from  school,  he  is  driven  into  the 
streets  by  the  mere  fact  of  the  absence  of  the  parents. 
He  forms  habits  and  tastes,  which  incline  him,  in  later 
years,  to  the  excitements  of  low  life  rather  than  to  the 
drab  monotony  of  an  honest,  working  existence. 

Again,  there  is  the  cosmopolitan  character  of  Paris. 
Its  brilliance  and  variety  attract  the  leisured  classes  of 
every  nation.  Industries  are  created,  catering  especially 
for  pleasure.  There  is  a  display  of  wealth  and  extrava- 
gance, which  offers  peculiar  temptation  to  the  young. 
The  feeling  that  luxury  is  the  "  summum  bonum "  and 
that  its  attainment  represents  the  only  ambition  worth 
while    is   responsible   for   much   moral    disaster.     Social 


296  FRANCE   AND   THE    FRENCH 

problems  are  inextricably  bound  up  with  the  problem  of 
juvenile  criminality.  Whilst  police  measures  have  effected 
a  great  deal,  they  cannot  effect  everything.  One  of  the 
most  successful  reforms  is  the  institution  of  the  cyclist 
police,  which  has  given  greater  security  to  the  outlying 
parts  of  Paris.  But  the  mere  repression  of  crime  will  not 
create  good  citizens,  neither  will  the  imposition  of  corporal 
punishment,  such  as  friendly  foreigners  advise.  It  is 
singular  that,  whilst  the  French  possess  an  almost  morbid 
liking  for  the  guillotine,  they  will  stand  no  allusion  to  the 
flogging  of  the  Apache,  though  the  system  stamped  out 
the  garrotter  in  England.  It  is  a  return  to  barbarism,  they 
say,  a  reactionary  proposal  only  fit  for  the  Dark  Ages. 

The  abolition  of  the  apprenticeship  system  has,  doubt- 
less, had  a  deplorable  effect  upon  young  Parisians  of 
modest  family.  Industrial  employment  brings  discipline 
and  self-restraint,  and  the  absence  of  it  temptation  and 
crime.  A  curious  proof  of  severe  training  upon  the 
morals  is  furnished  by  America,  where  the  intensely 
organized  industrial  system  grinds  the  erratic  individ- 
ualism of  the  "spoilt"  child  to  powder  and  substitutes  a 
common  efficiency  and  subservience  of  self  to  ends  com- 
parable with  results  obtained  by  German  military  methods. 
Freedom,  accompanied  by  inexperience  and  the  mere 
desire  "  to  live,"  is  always  dangerous. 

As  I  explained  above,  employers  refrain  from  taking 
apprentices  for  fear  of  the  restrictions  imposed  by  social 
legislation,  copied  from  England,  which  affects  women 
and  children.  For  this  reason,  feminine  reformers  object 
to  Parliamentary  interference,  in  their  interests,  alleging 
that  their  freedom  to  make  contracts  should  be  as  great 
as  man's.  It  is  one  of  the  ironies  of  well-intentioned 
effort  that  the  reformer  often  hurts  more  than  he  benefits. 

The  attitude  of  the  law  towards  women  is  different  in 


THE   FRENCH  JUDICIAL   SYSTEM  297 

the  two  countries.  You  have  to  render  account  of  the 
susceptibility  of  juries  and  even  of  the  judges — not 
entirely  unknown  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel. 
Portia,  if  she  happens  to  be  pretty,  has  a  powerful  argu- 
ment in  her  favour.  French  gallantry,  in  and  out  of  the 
courts,  is  scarcely  proof  against  beauty  in  distress.  The 
charming  actress  who,  in  England,  earned  this  rebuke 
from  the  judge  :  "  Madam,  you  may  cross-examine  the 
witnesses,  including  your  own,  you  may  even  cross- 
examine  the  learned  counsel,  but  you  positively  must 
not  cross-examine  me,"  would  be  otherwise  received  in 
France. 

Temperament  enters  into  the  general  conception  of  the 
role  and  scope  of  justice.  In  French  procedure,  there 
seems  ever  the  loophole,  the  chance  of  escape,  the  "  way 
round."  Juries  are  more  prone  to  take  the  purely  human, 
as  opposed  to  the  judicial,  view.  They  are  touched  by  J 
considerations  which  leave  the  British  juror  cold.  They 
understand  the  frailty  of  flesh,  the  pressure  of  circumstance 
and  environment.  They  realize  that  there  are  temptations 
almost  impossible  to  resist.  And  they  make  allowances 
— sometimes  too  great  allowances.  They  are  apt  to  be 
swayed  by  the  extraneous  to  the  neglect  of  the  principle. 
The  experiment  of  working-men  jurors  (instituted  by  a 
Socialist  Minister  of  Justice)  has  not  been  as  unhappy  as 
might  be  supposed.  On  the  contrary,  corduroy,  elevated, 
temporarily,  to  magisterial  functions,  has  sometimes  ex- 
hibited a  sturdier  sense  of  right  and  wrong  than  his  "  con- 
freres "  in  the  higher  social  scale. 

Yet  harm  is  done  by  the  glib  tongue  of  counsel, 
which  is  able  to  prove  that  black  is  white— if  not  green 
or  yellow.  A  contemporary  example  may  serve.  A 
cab-driver  was  arraigned  in  the  Assize  Court  of  the 
Department  of  the  Seine  for  the  murder  of  a  messenger 


298  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

boy.  The  youth  had  remonstrated  with  him  for  trying  to 
cheat  his  fare.  The  "cocher"  drove  away,  but  returned 
later  and  felled  the  lad  with  an  iron  club,  inflicting  injuries 
from  which  he  died.  For  this  aggravation  of  the  crime, 
the  accused  was  sentenced  to  a  short  term  of  imprison- 
ment with  "  sursis,"  that  is  to  say,  he  benefited  from  the 
First  Offenders  Act.  The  folly  of  the  Courts  in  condon- 
ing offences  has  an  evil  effect  upon  the  preservation  of 
order  in  the  street.  The  anarchy  of  the  drivers  of  wheeled 
traffic  in  Paris  is  as  dangerous  to  the  public  as  the 
nocturnal  attacks  of  the  Apaches. 

Justice  (with  the  aid  of  the  jury)  is  too  open  to  the 
appeal  to  mercy,  if  that  appeal  has  any  sentimental  basis. 
The  woman  who  feels  herself  wronged  by  her  lover  and 
throws  vitriol  in  his  face,  escapes  with  light  punishment ; 
in  the  same  way,  the  man  who  shoots  the  domestic  inter- 
loper and  then  turns  the  weapon  upon  his  wife,  is  generally 
exonerated.  Whilst  this  is,  doubtless,  a  human  inter- 
pretation of  the  law,  it  sets  up  a  principle  hurtful  to  society. 

A  country's  laws  are  a  tangled  knot  of  traditions  and 
conditions.  It  is  impossible  for  a  Frenchman  to  regard, 
with  the  same  eyes  as  an  Anglo-Saxon,  offences  against 
morality  and  the  commonweal.  His  upbringing  is  dif- 
ferent; his  ideals  respond  to  other  standards.  Generous 
motives  may  impel  him  to  erect  an  ethical  code  which, 
though  admirable  in  its  general  aspect — ^judged  academic- 
ally— fails,  miserably,  when  tried  by  the  touch-stone  of 
experience. 

Liberty  can  never  be  dissociated  from  jurisprudence. 
Notwithstanding  the  loud  call  for  this  privilege  and  its 
proud  emblazonment  on  all  public  monuments,  it  is  indis- 
putable that  in  England  the  personal  liberty  of  the  sub- 
ject is  more  assured.  A  man  is  freer  from  arrest.  We 
have  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  which  requires  the  prisoner 


THE    FRENCH   JUDICIAL   SYSTEM  299 

to  be  brought  before  a  magistrate  within  a  few  hours  of 
his  incarceration,  whereas,  in  France,  he  may  languish  for 
months  in  prison,  before  facing  a  judge  in  open  court, 
The  system  of  "instruction,"  being,  at  least,  nominally 
secret,  permits  of  abuses  scarcely  possible  in  England, 
where  the  proceedings,  from  the  first  moment  of  arrest, 
are  open  and  subject  to  control.  There  is  an  old  song 
which  says  that  the  prisoner  is  breaking  his  heart  in 
prison,  where  he  has  been  six  months,  whilst  M.  le  Juge 
d'Instruction  is  away  at  the  seaside  enjoying  a  vacation. 

"  Instruction,"  however  foreign  to  the  English  idea,  has, 
none  the  less,  certain  warrant  for  existence.  It  expresses 
the  psychic  differences  of  two  peoples.  Without  powers 
of  arrest,  under  the  preventative  laws,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  stop  movements  of  a  dangerous  tendency  in 
France,  in  time  of  popular  excitement.  The  first  duty  of 
authority  is  to  calm  the  effervescence  by  locking  up  the 
agitators.  During  the  remarkable  revolutionary  strikes  of 
the  railway  servants  in  October,  19 10,  the  principle  was  in 
operation.  Not  only  were  the  ringleaders  arrested,  but  the 
police  paid  domiciliary  visits  and  seized  compromising 
papers  of  journalists  engaged  on  Anarchist  organs.  The 
wide  latitude  given  to  authority  is  extremely  useful  on 
such  occasions.  Without  the  close  connection  of  the 
Government  with  the  Judicature,  judges  would  be  power- 
less. I  do  not  wish  to  suggest  that  politics  destroys  im- 
partiality, but  I  do  say  that  the  French  judge  has  not  that 
independence  of  the  Parliamentary  Majority  which  is  the 
proud  possession  of  his  British  brother.  The  best  paid 
French  judge  gets  not  more  than  ;^  1,200  :  the  salary  of 
the  First  President  of  the  Court  of  Cassation.  His 
colleagues,  who  preside  over  each  Chamber  of  the  Court, 
receive  ;^  1,000,  which  is  also  the  stipend  of  the  First 
President  of  the  Court  of  Appeal.     It  is  only  necessary  to 


300  FRANCE  AND  THE  FRENCH 

compare  these  figures  with  the  salaries  of  the  judicature  in 
England  to  be  aware,  at  once,  of  the  disparity  of  treat- 
ment of  the  two  bodies.  In  England,  the  Stipendiary  of 
a  police  court  obtains  as  large  a  remuneration  as  the 
highest  judicial  talent  in  France.  There  is  no  Lord  Chief 
Justice,  as  in  the  English  system,  drawing  his  ;^8,ooo 
a  year — a  figure,  somewhat  out  of  proportion,  perhaps, 
with  the  necessities  of  the  case — and  the  Lord  Chancellor 
is  merely  the  Minister  of  Justice  drawing  the  ordinary 
Cabinet  pay  of  60,000  francs.  In  the  Courts,  the  State  is 
represented  by  the  Public  Prosecutor  (Procureur  General), 
who  receives  as  much  as  the  Presiding  Judge  in  the  Courts 
of  Cassation  and  Appeal.  There  is  also  the  Avocat- 
General,  a  lower  salaried  ofidcial  who  conducts  prosecutions 
in  the  absence  of  his  chief. 

Perhaps  the  most  curious  institution  is  the  "  partie 
civile."  This  is  the  private  person  who  is  always  joined, 
in  the  capacity  of  the  civil  plaintiff,  to  any  criminal  pro- 
secution. Thus,  the  wife  or  parents  of  a  murdered  man 
are  the  "partie  civile"  in  a  criminal  action  against  the 
murderer.  The  claim  is  for  damages  caused  by  the  death 
of  the  victim. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  Judge  does  not  en- 
joy the  authority  that  belongs  to  the  head  of  a  British 
tribunal.  He  is  the  President  who  presides  with  scarcely 
more  than  half  the  prestige  and  power  of  real  control  which 
pertain  to  our  own  settled  system.  The  President  is 
Napoleonic  in  his  origin — a  hectoring  but  rather  futile 
creature,  who  hardly  restrains  counsel  from  their  theatrical 
excesses,  and  who  has  no  power  to  alter  what  is  already 
prescribed  by  the  law  with  such  meticulous  exactitude. 
The  rigidity  of  the  Code  is  one  of  its  leading  character- 
istics. It  cannot  be  deflected  either  in  the  sense  of  mercy 
or  of  increasing  punishment ;  it  must  be  applied  in  its 


THE   FRENCH   JUDICIAL   SYSTEM  301 

integrity  or  not  at  all.  Here,  again,  is  a  reason,  possibly, 
why  juries  err  on  the  side  of  leniency.  They  know  that 
if  they  return  a  verdict  of  "Guilty,"  without  extenu- 
ating circumstances,  the  full  penalty  of  the  Code  will  be 
administered,  whereas,  probably,  they  themselves  see  the 
necessity  for  more  humane  treatment  of  the  case.  Roughly, 
it  may  be  said  that  the  English  magistrate  or  judge  is  a 
gentleman  of  high  private  character,  considerable  social 
standing  and  experience  of  life,  who  gives  out  fatherly 
advice  to  his  fellow-citizens  and  is  handsomely  rewarded 
for  taking  a  disinterested  care  of  their  morals.  The  want 
of  codified  theory  in  England  is  as  remarkable  as  the 
system  is  excellent  in  practice.  We  live  under  a  regime  of 
case-law ;  the  crime  of  to-day  is  judged  by  the  precedent 
of  yesterday.  This  may,  or  may  not,  be  good  in  principle 
— personally,  I  doubt  it — but  the  results  are  satisfactory. 
The  desideratum  is  even-handed  justice  and  this  emerges, 
naturally,  from  the  innate  sense  of  fairness  existing  in 
lawyers  as  well  as  in  other  Englishmen. 

Eugene  Brieux's  "  Robe  Rouge "  exhibits,  scathingly, 
the  zeal  of  magistrates  to  secure  convictions  for  the  sake  of 
promotion.  It  is  an  exaggerated  piece  of  special  pleading ; 
at  the  same  time,  there  seems  to  exist,  sometimes,  a  terrible 
ambition  amongst  judges  and  the  Bar  to  advance  over  the 
bodies  of  prisoners,  guilty  or  innocent.  Happily,  the 
symptoms  of  this  ferocious  "  arrivisme  "  are  rarer  in  Eng- 
land, though,  here,  the  abuse  is  the  latitude  allowed  counsel 
to  browbeat  witnesses.  Distinction  in  science  or  letters  or 
undistinguished  honesty  is  no  palladium  in  the  witness 
box.  Every  one  is  fair  game  for  the  gentlemen  in  wig  and 
gown. 

Comparison  between  two  sharply  contrasting  schemes 
is  inevitable  in  a  survey  of  French  justice,  for  without  this 
invidious  process,  points  are  lost  to  the  English  reader. 


302  FRANCE    AND   THE   FRENCH 

Superficially  there  is  everything  to  condemn  in  the  French 
system  and  little  to  commend.  On  the  strength  of  news- 
paper reports  of  the  famous  Steinheil  trial,  editorial 
writers  hastened  to  prescribe  the  English  law-court  as 
a  remedy  for  all  ills.  But  reformation  is  not  as  easy  as 
that.  It  must  conform  with  the  genius  of  the  people.  It 
would  be  absurd  to  pretend  that  French  judicial  methods 
are  not  capable  of  great  improvement ;  at  the  same  time, 
any  adoption  of  foreign  ideas  must  be  made  with  caution  ; 
otherwise,  you  will  incur  the  risk  that  results  from  pouring 
new  wine  into  old  and  Biblical  bottles. 

Lastly,  there  is  the  question  of  witnesses  on  oath.  In 
England  it  is  a  dreadful  crime  to  bear  false  witness,  to  be 
guilty  of  perjury.  But,  in  France,  the  spoken  word  is 
more  lightly  regarded,  and  witnesses  forswear  and  express 
purposeful  ambiguities  with  a  lightness  of  heart  that  would 
appear  atrocious  to  the  conductors  of  a  case  in  England. 
But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  legal  hearers  of 
evidence  of  the  sort  are  well  aware  of  the  temperamental 
eccentricities  of  their  countrymen  and  make  due  allowance 
in  the  rendering  of  the  verdict.  Evidence,  in  fact,  has  to 
be  carefully  controlled  and  directly  challenged  before  it 
carries  weight.  Indeed,  one  may  say  that  the  great  differ- 
ence in  the  judicial  systems  of  the  two  countries  is  that  in 
France  the  endeavour  is  to  know  the  inward  man  and  build 
about  him  probabilities  and  possibilities,  whilst,  in  England, 
the  machinery  of  the  Courts  is  turned  to  discover  whether 
on  a  certain  day  the  prisoner  committed  a  certain  act  and 
whether  the  fact  of  that  act  can  be  explicitly  established. 
The  difference  is  essential.  The  one  is  sharp,  decisive, 
positive,  the  other  is  atmospheric,  general,  psychological. 
I  blame  or  praise  neither  system ;  I  find  them  both  good 
of  their  sort,  both  adapted  (or  capable  of  adaptation)  to  the 
needs  of  the  people.     But  the  French  system  has  been 


THE   FRENCH   JUDICIAL   SYSTEM  303 

warped  in  the  course  of  years.  Again,  the  nature  of  the 
French  is  less  judicial,  less  impartial  than  the  English. 
When  they  learn  these  virtues,  as  they  are  gradually  learn- 
ing them,  by  contact  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  from 
playing  his  games,  then,  I  think,  there  will  be  a  tendency  to 
draw  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  British  ideal,  which  is  to  give 
plenty  of  chance  to  the  prisoner  and  to  act  on  the  assump- 
tion that  he  is  innocent  until  proved  guilty.  It  would, 
perhaps,  be  a  perfect  system,  if  judges  were  more  open- 
minded  and  counsel  less  insolent  to  witnesses. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
DISCONTENT  AND    ITS   CAUSES 

THE  Springtime  is  favourable  to  Revolution, 
especially  amongst  Latin  races.  For  the  last  few 
years,  every  May  Day  has  brought  with  it  a  train 
of  terrors.  The  Revolution  has  been  announced,  and 
M.  L6pine,  the  watchful  Prefect  of  Paris,  has  held  the 
bridges  and  patrolled  the  streets  with  mounted  troops  as  if 
the  city  were  really  menaced  by  an  insurrectionary  mob. 
In  the  great  towns  of  France  there  have  been  similiar 
scenes.  From  what  causes  spring  these  periodical  alarms  ? 
This  concluding  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  a  consideration 
of  the  subject.  The  usual  "  malaise  "  was  heightened,  in 
the  spring  of  1909,  by  a  new  fact :  a  Strike  movement  in 
the  Civil  Service  itself.  When  functionaries  agitate,  un- 
constitutionally, there  is  ground  for  Bourgeois  alarm.  And 
the  Bourgeoisie  was  alarmed.  This  "  fait  nouveau,"  which 
seemed  to  presage  all  sorts  of  struggles  and  Social 
"  bouleversements,"  resulted  from  the  strangest  marriage. 
The  black-coated,  rather  consequential  clerk  in  the  Post 
Office  allied  himself  to  the  horny-handed,  be-bloused  work- 
man of  the  Confederation  Generale  du  Travail,  the  most 
insurrectionary  body  in  the  country.  No  one  had  hitherto 
suspected  that  such  a  union  was  possible :  MM.  les  Fonc- 
tionnaires  de  I'Etat  with  the  Proletariat !  It  seemed 
incredible.  As  a  result  of  it,  trade  and  industry  in  Paris 
and  throughout  France  were  dislocated  for  a  week  or  more. 

304 


'-* : 

*•• 

•       .    •    .  •••  .   ,, 

...  •••  •    •  ••  •  /  r.» ! ' !  f 


MAY   DAY,   PLACE   DE   LA  CONCORDE 

M.  LEl'lNE,  FKEFECT    OF    POLICE    WITH    LIEUTENANT    OF    CHASSEUKS 


DISCONTENT   AND    ITS   CAUSES  305 

No  telegraphs  flashed  their  messages  from  end  to  end  of 
the  country,  no  letters  arrived  on  the  merchant's  desk, 
containing  orders  for  his  goods  or  cheques  or  "  traites  "  in 
exchange  for  them.  A  rumour  existed  that  the  railways 
intended  to  add  to  the  general  confusion  by  throwing  in 
their  lot  with  the  Postal  workers. 

The  publication  of  the  banns  of  this  "mesalliance "took 
place  at  a  great  meeting  of  postal  employes  and  artisans 
held  in  a  Paris  hall  in  the  early  days  of  April,  1909,  when 
Emile  Pataud,  a  notorious  strike-leader  (whose  exploit  in 
"  cutting "  the  electric  current  I  mention  in  a  preceding 
chapter),  spoke  of  revolution  and  "  sabotage  " — the  wilful 
destruction  of  the  means  or  produce  of  manufacture — and 
was  cheered  to  the  echo  by  the  Civil  servants  present. 
Something,  evidently,  had  changed  when  black  coats  and 
corduroys  fraternized.     It  showed  that  certain  of  the  ele- 
ments existed  for  a  general  rising,  if  not  for  a  general  strike. 
Part  of  a  labour  leader's  "  modus  operandi  "  is  to  make 
the  flesh  of  the  Bourgeoisie  creep.     The  practice  is  par- 
ticularly dear  to  the  French  species,  which  loves  to  create 
sensation,  to  be  regarded  as  holding  in  its  hands  the  lives 
and  property  of  the  middle  classes.     Now,  since  not  more 
than  fifty  per  cent  of  the  members  of  the  Syndicates  or 
Trade  Unions  are   affiliated  to  the    Confederation,    and 
only  five  per  cent  of  French  workers  are  regularly    in- 
scribed on  the  lists  of  the  Parti  Syndicaliste,  it  is  apparent 
that  the  General  Confederation  is    a    very    small    body. 
Whence,  then,  comes  its  power?     It  comes,  principally, 
from  the  fear  of  the  Government  to  exercise  repressive 
measures.     It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  a  strong  and  fear- 
less authority  would  speedily  take  the  heart  out  of  the 
present  movement. 

Though  a  great  deal  must  be  attributed  to  the  French 
desire  for  excitement  and  change,  the  causes  of  this  curious 
20 


3o6  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

yearly  agitation  go  much  deeper  than  that.  So  deeply,  in- 
deed, do  they  go  that  they  are  bound  up  in  the  blood  and 
tissues  of  the  country  and  cannot  be  eradicated  without  a 
serious  surgical  operation.  Revolution,  in  some  form  or 
other,  appears  inevitable  within  a  certain  fixed  period  of 
time.  Yet  it  seems  certain  that  the  pendulum  will  swing 
again  to  its  old  position,  because  that  position  represents 
the  mean  time  of  social  and  political  France. 

Only  the  most  confirmed  optimist  could  suppose  that 
matters  can  remain  as  they  are.  There  are  too  many 
causes  making  for  change.  Of  these  the  principal  is  the 
increasing  difficulty  of  the  lower  and  middle-class  inhabit- 
ants of  the  towns  to  make  both  ends  meet.  The  most 
casual  observer  remarks  the  loss  of  the  old-time  politeness 
and  courtesy  of  small  functionaries,  shop  assistants  and 
servants  in  Paris  and  the  large  towns.  Though,  of  course, 
the  metropolis  must  not  be  confounded  with  France,  it 
gives  the  lead,  nowadays,  to  movements  of  an  anti-Govern- 
mental character.  Surliness  springs  from  the  fact  that 
persons  in  small  salaried  positions  are  feeling  the  pinch  of 
higher  taxation  and  a  considerable  increase  in  the  cost  of 
living,  whilst  the  industrial  position  of  the  country  gives 
them  no  horizon,  no  hope  of  bettering  their  position — that 
hope  which  is  so  potent  a  cause  in  allaying  popular  dis- 
content in  the  United  States  and  in  postponing  the  inevit- 
able reckoning  between  the  "  haves  "  and  the  "  have  nots." 

A  love  of  luxury  has  descended  the  line  and  now  affects 
strata  of  society  which  were  formerly  exempt  from  ambition 
It  is  true  that  the  "  petite  Bourgeoisie  "  is  a  virtuous,  self- 
contained,  laborious  and  sober  class  of  society,  working 
hard  and  living  hard  to  consolidate  its  position  and  to  pro- 
vide for  its  old  age,  but  on  the  fringes  of  this  class  is  a 
large  number  of  persons  affected  by  the  lavish  expenditure 
of  the  cosmopolitan  host  of  Paris.      This  class  imitates 


DISCONTENT    AND    ITS   CAUSES  307 

the  one  above  it  in  its  dress  and  amusements.  One  of  the 
mysteries  that  hedge  about  the  existence  of  the  salaried 
official  in  France  is  his  ability  to  lead  a  life  of  external 
prosperity.  He  visits  the  theatre  regularly  with  his  wife, 
buys  fashionable  gowns  for  her,  takes  his  family  each  year 
to  the  seaside,  makes  an  occasional  appearance  in  an  ex- 
pensive restaurant  and,  generally,  conducts  himself  bravely 
before  the  world.  How  is  it  done?  Only  by  the  most 
rigorous,  the  most  unlovely  kind  of  economy.  The  French 
have  brought  economy  to  a  fine  art.  They  economize  in 
their  household  arrangements,  in  the  little  daily  expendi- 
ture which,  insensibly,  augments  the  family  budget  in 
English,  and,  particularly,  in  American  households  ;  they 
economize  in  their  children,  taking  care  not  to  have  more 
than  one  or  two  in  a  family.  By  this  means,  they  manage 
to  maintain  an  exterior  of  comfort  and  even  luxury. 

During  the  last  twenty  years,  the  lot  of  the  "petit 
monde  "  has  not  been  a  happy  one.  Living  expenses  have 
increased  in  all  the  large  towns.  In  Paris  this  is  due,  in 
a  large  measure,  to  the  incursion  of  rich  foreigners,  whose 
demands  for  luxurious  accommodation  have  forced  up 
prices.  In  the  West  End  are  streets  of  palaces  which  give 
shelter  to  the  exotic  millionaire ;  in  the  Champs  Elys6es 
and  the  avenues  radiating  from  the  Etoile,  large  hotels 
have  been  erected  which  represent  the  last  word  in  ele- 
gance and  comfort.  Contrast  the  habits  of  life  and  lavish 
expenditure  of  foreign  visitors  with  the  old-time  Bourgeois 
existence.  The  pleasures  of  the  Frenchman  of  the  old 
school  are  simple  and  inexpensive  ;  he  visits,  rarely,  places 
of  amusement,  and  exercises  economy  and  sobriety  in 
every  relation  of  life.  The  American,  under  which  name 
I  include  the  South  American,  gives  an  example  of  the 
opposite  kind.  He  arrives  in  Paris,  with  the  express 
object  of  spending  money,  and  a  class  of  parasites  has 


3o8  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

arisen  to  enable  him  to  accomplish  it  in  the  shortest  time 
and  with  the  greatest  profit  to  itself.  Even  in  the  Latin 
Quarter,  the  influence  of  the  rich  stranger  is  felt  to  the 
detriment  of  the  poor  native  artist,  who  has  to  pay  more 
for  his  studio. 

These  things  have  their  influence  upon  the  rising  genera- 
tion. The  incitement  to  spend  money  is  unfortunate  upon 
imitative  and  expansive  natures.  The  desire  to  acquire 
honestly  is  not  always  as  strong  as  the  desire  to  spend. 

Those  classes  in  which  the  spending  habit  is  most  highly 
developed  are  not  those  who  contribute  most  to  the 
national  wealth,  either  in  the  arts  or  manufactures.  A 
penniless  "jeunesse  dor^e"  is  a  feature  of  the  social  life 
of  Paris ;  it  constitutes  a  danger  to  society.  The  young 
member  of  an  aristocracy  more  or  less  authentic — generally 
very  much  less — is  led  into  dishonourable  paths  by  tastes 
and  appetites  that  are  not  subordinated  to  his  income. 
He  is  lured  to  join  the  bogus  company,  to  accept  the 
"  pot  de  vin,"  for  some  piece  of  influence  to  be  exercised 
in  a  social  capacity,  and  to  resort  to  other  practices  of 
a  questionable  sort  in  order  to  continue  the  illusory  parade 
of  riches.  There  is  no  more  dangerous  class  in  the  world 
than  a  certain  cosmopolitan  set  of  men  and  women,  who  use 
every  means  to  exploit  a  bogus  title.  A  recent  successful 
play  in  Paris,  by  Maurice  Donnay,  satirizes,  under  the  title 
of  "  Parattre,"  the  persons  who  are  haunted  with  the  desire 
to  appear  in  finer  feathers  than  their  situation  warrants. 

Ambition,  not  always  accompanied  by  principle,  domi- 
nates a  large  proportion  of  the  lower  classes.  The  con- 
cierge's son  dreams  of  being  Minister  or  of  following  one 
of  the  liberal  professions,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  his 
ambition  will  be  realized,  though  this,  of  course,  may  be 
perfectly  legitimate.  Nearly  every  member  of  the  Cabinet  is 
a  self-made  man,  though  not  always  in  the  good  old  English 


•  :  :  -'• 


S       ^ 


DISCONTENT   AND   ITS   CAUSES  309 

sense.  Intrigue  or  "piston"  will,  apparently,  carry  a  man 
further  in  France  than  mere  merit  or  natural  distinction. 

Gratuitous  and  even  egregious  as  it  would  be  to 
attack  the  character  of  the  average  deputy,  it  is  never- 
theless true  that  patronage  and  influence  play  a  prepon- 
derating r61e  at  the  Palais  Bourbon.  There  are  English 
M.P.'s  of  whom  it  could  be  said  that  they  have  never 
recommended  so  much  as  a  Civil  servant  to  office;  it  would 
be  more  difficult  to  find  a  French  deputy  who  was  equally 
sparing  of  his  power.  Whilst  men  of  the  loftiest  character 
sit  in  the  Chamber,  the  self-interest  of  others  is  only  too 
apparent.  The  electoral  reform  known  as  the  "  scrutin  de 
liste"  (or  list-voting)  has  been  introduced,  I  repeat,  as  a 
relief  against  a  system  which  appears  to  place  local  interests 
above  those  of  country.  It  is  thought  that,  with  the  sub- 
stitution of  list-voting  for  the  "  scrutin  d'arrondissement " 
(or  uninominal  voting,  as  in  England)  a  better  class  of 
man,  more  independent  in  his  actions  and  wider  in  his 
outlook,  will  be  returned  to  the  Chamber.  With  pro- 
portional representation  in  operation,  minorities  would 
have  their  voice  in  the  national  legislature,  thereby  ensuring 
an  even-handed  and  less  partial  system  of  government. 

Whether  such  a  reform  would  effect  the  transformation 
desired,  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  the  old  system  has  been 
tried  and  found  wanting.  Cynics  declare  that  the  average 
deputy  regards  his  advent  to  the  Palais  Bourbon  as  a 
special  dispensation  of  Providence  designed  to  enable  him 
to  provide  comfortably  for  his  family.  If  he  owes  his 
elevation  above  his  fellows  to  keenness  of  intellect  and 
glibness  of  tongue,  that  criticism  has  its  application, 
doubtless,  to  other  democracies.  The  professional  man, 
who  has  failed  to  make  a  career  for  himself,  is  too  often 
the  recruit  of  politics.  Such  a  class,  even  inspired  by 
the  best  motives,  offers  no  serious  barrier  to  impulsive 


3IO  FRANCE   AND  THE   FRENCH 

legislation,  or  legislation  in  the  interests  of  a  single  class. 
To  use  the  old-fashioned  phrase,  it  has  no  stake  in  the 
country.  By  the  nature  of  its  origin,  its  temptation  is  to 
become  time-serving  and  Opportunist.  The  very  sim- 
plicity of  the  electoral  system,  entirely  free  from  the  ex- 
pensive and  complicated  character  of  the  English  machine, 
seems  to  aid  in  the  return  of  men  incapable  of  giving 
direction  to  popular  movements. 

It  has  been  said  that  one  of  the  results  of  the  "  scrutin 
d'arrondissement "  in  a  system  of  universal  suffrage  is  to 
make  the  deputy  the  valet  of  his  electors.  According 
to  a  recervt  writer  in  "  La  Revue,"  Parliament  is  nothing 
but  an  assembly  of  municipal  and  county  councillors 
attentive  to  local  desires,  deferential  to  the  representatives 
of  authority,  humble  to  any  who  have  influence  with  the 
electoral  mass,  with  eyes  always  turned  towards  their 
"  circonscription,"  full  of  fear  and  cowardly  before  moral 
responsibility.  It  may  be  said  that  the  Lower  Chamber 
has  shown  a  remarkable  ineptitude  in  dealing  with  social 
reform.  Elsewhere,  I  quote  the  Weekly  Rest  Act.  Before 
its  amendment,  it  was  a  clumsy  piece  of  legislation  which 
produced,  at  the  moment  of  its  passing,  formidable  de- 
monstrations of  protest  amongst  small  shopkeepers  and 
workmen  whose  interests  were  seriously  compromised. 
Again,  the  limitation  in  the  number  of  "debits  de  vin," 
the  resolution  of  the  question  of  the  "  Bouilleurs  de  cru  " 
(or  private  distillers)  and  the  regulation  of  gaming-houses 
have  all  shown  the  evils  of  chaos  and  incoherence,  the 
lack  of  practical  ideas  amongst  the  legislators,  and  also,  it 
would  seem,  the  value,  to  the  parties  interested,  of  "  friends 
at  Court."  The  law  as  to  gambling  is  in  a  particularly  un- 
satisfactory state,  leaving  the  keepers  of  "  tripots  "  masters 
of  the  towns  and  villages  of  France.  As  the  writer,  whose 
article  I  have  just  quoted,  very  trenchantly  remarks  (of  the 


DISCONTENT   AND   ITS   CAUSES  311 

deputies) :  "  Their  fathers  dethroned  kings ;  they,  them- 
selves, drove  out  the  monks  and  sent  away  the  priest  from 
the  schools  and  from  his  position  as  servant  of  the  State ; 
they  have  emancipated  consciences,  but  they  have  not 
known  how  to  cure  the  essential  vices  of  our  people : 
alcoholism  and  gambling,  hideous  sores  which  eat  into 
the  side  of  France." 

One  of  the  marked  symptoms  of  the  present  time  is  a 
dissatisfaction  with  the  Parliamentary  regime.  It  is  not 
so  much  a  dislike  of  the  Republic  as  a  dislike  of  Repub- 
licanism. Its  more  recent  developments  began,  I  think, 
with  the  day  when  MM.  les  Deputes  voted  themselves  an 
increase  of  seventy  per  cent  in  their  Parliamentary  pay. 
This  made  a  disagreeable  impression  upon  the  country. 
The  shamefaced  alacrity  of  the  proceeding — a  rapid  vote 
without  any  appeal  to  the  people,  the  paymasters — was 
an  ugly  commentary  on  the  accusations  of  self-interest 
which  have  been  repeatedly  hurled  at  the  popular  assem- 
bly. The  Republic  has  failed  to  carry  out  its  ideal.  Read 
the  speeches  of  its  founders,  and  you  will  discover  that 
they  hankered  after  some  system  of  government  which 
would  recall  the  glory  of  Athens  and  the  frugality  of 
Sparta  with  those  adaptations  necessary  to  the  special 
genius  of  the  French.  There  is  little  that  is  Athenian  in 
the  composition  of  the  Third  Republic. 

I  have  shown  that  the  chief  factors  in  the  present  dis- 
content are  the  rise  in  cost  of  living  and  the  desire  for 
greater  luxury  on  the  part  of  the  classes  of  modest  in- 
come. Ambition  has  permeated  society  and  caused  the 
inferior  to  look  with  envy  and  hatred  upon  his  superior, 
and  the  superior  to  take  every  opportunity  of  pushing  his 
own  interest,  to  make  hay  whilst  the  sun  shines.  Then 
there  is  the  flattery  and  insincerity  of  the  Parliamentarians, 
who  have  raised  false  hopes  in  the  breasts  of  the  people, 


312  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

hopes  that  can  never  be  reah'zed  whilst  human  nature 
remains  what  it  is  and  the  world  refuses  to  model  itself  on 
the  dream  cosmos  of  Edward  Bellamy. 

Another  cause  of  the  periodical  convulsion  of  labour  is 
the  unsatisfied  intelligence  of  the  workers.  There  is  no 
country  in  Europe  where  the  artisan  of  the  big  towns 
reaches  an  equal  level  of  acute  intelligence.  This  is  un- 
balanced, frequently,  by  moral  training :  thu§  there  is 
present  in  the  body  politic  a  fiercely  insistent  class  that 
claims  the  good  things  of  the  earth.  In  Northern  nations 
a  sane  reflection  as  to  ways  and  means  tempers  the  ardour 
of  political  and  social  aspiration,  but  amongst  the  French 
industrial  classes  there  is  always  the  feeling  that  economic 
miracles  can  be  performed  by  Act  of  Parliament.  If 
wages  and  other  conditions  are  bad,  then  they  can  be 
rectified  by  putting  pressure  upon  the  employer  of  labour. 
This  is  the  half-naive  suggestion  that  floats  on  the  mass 
of  Socialist  rhetoric.  It  is  born,  perhaps,  of  those  experi- 
ments— ill-doomed  but  still  fascinating — in  collective  pro- 
duction, which  were  conducted  during  the  Revolution. 
The  Anglo-Saxon  worker's  political  education  is  less 
advanced,  but  he  is  possessed  of  a  sturdy  common  sense 
which  leads  him  to  eschew  the  general  idea  and  look  for 
salvation  in  individual  or  trade  union  action  on  definite 
lines,  rather  than  in  ebullitions  of  a  Socialist  character, 
which  leave  untouched  the  pressing  problem  of  a  living 
wage.  The  law  of  supply  and  demand  plays  little  part 
in  these  generous  but  impracticable  ideals.  The  mental 
development  of  the  worker,  unaccompanied,  as  I  say,  by 
the  reflection  that  acts  as  ballast,  constitutes  one  of  the 
dangers  of  the  situation  in  France. 

It  cannot  be  urged  that  the  French  proletariat  are  worse 
off,  either  in  their  personal  and  political  liberties  or  in  the 
conditions  of  their  labour,  than  the  peoples  of  other  Euro- 


•  •    •      •  •     •  •  r  •  'j 

•  »•  •      ••••    •.-•*j 


DISCONTENT   AND   ITS   CAUSES  313 

pean  nations.  They  are  not  oppressed,  and  more  is  done 
to  render  their  lives  bright  and  interesting  than  is  the  case 
in  England.  On  the  other  hand,  the  special  character  of 
the  French  intelligence  renders  the  people  more  prone  to 
the  idealism  of  the  demagogue  than  the  English  masses, 
whose  attachment  to  general  principles  is  limited  by  a 
shrewd  appreciation  of  realities.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten 
that  the  French  Revolution  is  still  in  process  of  fulfilment. 
Its  work  is  not  yet  accomplished.  An  important  sequel  of 
the  great  historic  upheaval  is  the  separation  of  Church  and 
State,  an  extraordinary  measure  when  one  considers  the 
long  connection  of  the  country  with  Rome,  a  connection 
which  earned  for  her  the  title  of  "  Eldest  daughter  of  the 
Church."  The  great-grandchildren  of  the  men  who 
revolted  in  1789  and  slew  the  fair  flower  of  the  French 
aristocracy,  have  to-day  become  towers  of  Bourgeois 
respectability  and  barriers  to  the  progress  of  working-class 
demands.  This  same  Bourgeoisie,  which  was  the  real 
agent  of  the  Great  Revolution,  now  has  the  force  it  invoked 
turned  against  itself.  One  of  the  most  patent  facts  in  the 
contemporary  history  of  France  is  the  decay  of  the  middle 
class.  The  Tiers  Etat  is  disappearing  in  favour  of  the 
Quatrieme  Etat.  There  is  no  young  and  rising  man  of 
Bourgeois  family  and  traditions  in  the  Parliamentary 
arena.  As  I  declare  in  my  opening  chapter,  the  politician 
of  the  future  will  come  directly  from  the  people. 

Though  the  leaders  of  Revolutionary  labour  are  diffident 
in  telling  the  exact  methods  by  which  they  propose  to 
effect  the  salvation  of  the  people,  it  is  not  impossible  to 
indicate  the  general  lines  of  their  programme.  The  idea  of 
Emile  Pataud,  who  is,  certainly,  the  most  prominent  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  new  movement,  is  suddenly  to  suspend  the 
working  life  of  France.  The  precise  hour  of  that  suspen- 
sion is  a  secret  which  reposes  in  the  bosom  of  the  Council 


314  FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 

of  Twelve,  which  constitutes  the  Inner  Cabinet  of  the 
Confederation  Generale  du  Travail.  There  exists  a 
regular  plan  to  cripple  the  commerce  and  industry  of  the 
country.  At  a  given  moment  the  hand  of  labour  will  be 
arrested.  Trains  will  stop  on  the  railways,  workmen  will 
throw  down  their  tools  in  the  workshops  ;  armies  will  stay 
upon  the  march,  refusing  to  obey  orders ;  every  depart- 
ment of  public  life  will  be  paralysed.  "The  Plan" 
amounts  to  a  boycott  by  the  people  of  the  ruling  classes. 
That  is  the  secret  dream  of  the  Revolutionary.  By  its 
means  the  fagade  of  the  Bourgeois  Constitution  will  fall, 
leaving  nakedness  and  chaos.  In  its  place  these  re- 
organizers  of  society  propose  to  erect  a  Government  of 
Syndicates  or  Trade  Unions.  Every  class  in  the  com- 
munity will  be  represented  by  a  body  competent  to  speak 
for  its  interests.  The  professional  man,  as  well  as  the 
labourer,  the  capitalist — if  one  can  suppose  a  capitalist  in 
the  New  France — and  the  salaried  servant  of  the  State, 
will  combine  to  preserve  their  social  and  political  entities. 
It  will  be  a  Parliament  of  experts.  The  representative 
sent  to  that  Parliament  will  differ  from  the  Deputy  in  that 
he  can  be  removed  at  the  first  failure  to  give  satisfaction 
to  his  constituents.  One  of  the  chief  complaints  of  the 
present  system  is  that  the  Socialist  Deputy,  arrived  at 
Ministerial  position,  rejects  his  old  principles  and  associ- 
ates himself  definitely  with  the  ruling  classes.  Under 
the  Trade  Union  system  this  would  be  impossible.  The 
representative  in  Parliament  would  remain  the  servant  of 
those  who  sent  him  there.  The  moment  his  views  ceased 
to  be  in  harmony  with  the  actual  workers,  he  would  be 
recalled  to  take  his  place  in  the  ranks. 

This  system  leaves  out  of  consideration  the  important 
fact  that  power  must  exist  somewhere.  If  it  does  not 
exist  in  Parliament,  it    will   exist   out  of    Parliament — 


DISCONTENT   AND    ITS   CAUSES  315 

in  secret  societies  and  organizations.  History  has  shown 
us  the  deplorable  effect  of  tyranny  exercised  in  the  dark. 

One  of  the  strangest  effects  of  the  new  movement  is 
its  indifference  to  Socialism.  M.  Jaures,  the  eloquent 
chief  of  the  Parliamentary  Socialists,  sheds  tears  over  this 
important  defection,  but  his  invitation  to  the  Syndicalists 
to  make  common  cause  with  the  Extreme  Left  in  Par- 
liament, has  hitherto  fallen  on  deaf  ears.  Syndicalism  is 
independent  of  politics.     That  is  its  most  striking  feature. 

What  is  the  force  that  can  counteract  this  new  influence, 
which  threatens  to  disintegrate  the  country  and  undo  the 
work  of  consolidation  of  the  last  forty  years  ?  Is  it  the 
Monarchy  ?  No  one  familiar  with  France  will  doubt  that 
a  constitutional  monarch  would  satisfy  the  aspirations 
of  a  large  section  of  the  people,  but  as  I  insist  elsewhere  in 
this  book,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  monarchy  without 
an  aristocracy,  and  the  aristocracy  is  hopelessly  lost. 
Moreover,  one  searches  in  vain  amongst  the  Pretenders 
for  a  man  capable  of  leading  the  country  to  new  destinies. 
The  remedy  must  rather  be  sought  in  the  reform  of  Par- 
liament and  in  the  institution  of  new  electoral  methods 
for  the  recruitment  of  the  deputy.  This  very  question 
as  I  indicate,  is  occupying  the  legislature,  and  the 
Elections  of  19 10  were  the  last  to  be  fought  under  the 
"scrutin  d'arrondissement,"  with  its  narrow  appeal  to 
local  influences.  Nepotism  and  the  other  evils  complained 
of  must  cease.  These  are,  perhaps,  but  palliatives  only 
calculated  to  defer  the  evil  day.  Some  sort  of  revolution 
would  appear  to  be  inevitable  amongst  the  town  popula- 
tions, but  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  lot  of  the  working 
classes  is  to  be  improved  thereby,  even  if  one  supposes 
that  the  peasant  would  help  the  townsman  to  overthrow  a 
system  under  which  he  has  secured  all  the  "  bien-etre " 
possible. 


INDEX 


Academic  Fran9aise,  63,  64 
Action  Fran9aise,  94 
Adam,  Mme.  Juliette,  130 
Aeroplane  in  Africa   and   Madagas- 
car, 195 
Affaire  Dreyfus,  III 
—  Duez,  92,  114 
Africa,  Equatorial  French,  193 
Algeciras  Conference,  173,  174 
Algeria,  181,  188 
Alliance,  Russian,  170,  171 
Amette,  Mgr.,  124 
Analysis,  love  of,  46 
Anarchists,  166 
Andre,  General,  loi,  128,  174 
Angell,  Norman,  23 
Anglo-German  relations,  178 
Annam,  196 
Annesley,  Maude,  295 
Annunzio,  Gabrielle  d',  63 
Anti-Clericalism,  117 
Anti-Militarism,  20 
Apache,  the,  4,  294  et  seq. ,  298 
Apprentice  system,  295 
Arsenal  library,  148 
Art,  American,  56 
Art,  German,  56 
Associations,  Law,  113 
Athens,  311 
Athletics,  81 
Aumale,  Due  d',  189 
Authority,  parental,  72,  73 
Avarice,  47 


B 

Balzac,  63 

Barres,  Maurice,  62,  104 

Bas  de  laine,  the,  14,  184 

Bataille,  Henri,  dramatic  author,  246 

Bazin,  Rene,  62 


Bellamy,  Edward,  312 

Berenger,  Senator,  105 

Bernhardt,  Mme.  Sarah,  244 

Biskra,  144 

Bismarck,  15,  169,  175,  183 

Blowitz,  de,  168 

Blue  stockings,  French,  40 

Bodington,  O.  E.,  210 

Bois  Sacre,  le,  8 

Bonapartists,  lo,  95 

Bouilleurs  de  Cru,  310 

Boulanger,  General,  10 

Boulevards,  the,  149 

Bourgeoisie,  petite,  306 

Bourgeoisie,  the,  5,  24,  76,  304  etseg.^ 

313 
Bourget,  Paul,  6,  32,  245 
Briand,  Aristide,  16,  156,  160,   165, 

257,  269 
Brieux,    dramatic   author,    32,    238, 

243,  301 
Brisson,  Henry,  16,  103 
Bryne  Gonda,  295 


Cabarets  artistiques,  149 

—  Chat  Noir,  149 

Caillaux,  M.,  Finance  Minister,  164 

Caillavet,  M.  de,  dramatic  author,  8 

Cambodia,  200 

Canada,  French,  204,  205 

Capus,  Alfred,  dramatic  author,   18, 

248 
Carnot,  Sadi,  President,  7 
Casablanca,  the  incident  of,  180 
Cathedrals,  208 

—  Amiens,  213,  220 

—  Chartres,  212,  214 

—  Notre  Dame  de  Paris,  221 

—  Rheims,  217 
Censor,  the,  11,  66,  239 


317 


3i8 


FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 


Chambord,  Due  de,  1 1 1 

Champs  Elysees,  avenue  des,  152 

Chandernagor,  197 

Channel  tunnel,  180 

Charlemagne,  14 

Chartreuse,  la  Grande,  137 

Cheating,  45 

Children,  19,  20 

Church  and  State,  109,  124,  157,  313 

—  Labour,  124 

—  Modern  Thought,  123 

—  Education,  124 

—  Women,  126 

Church  of  Sainte  Chapelle,  147,  223 

—  Saint  Julien  le  Pauvre,  145 

—  Saint  Severin,  145 

—  Saint  Sulpice,  143 
Classics  in  France,  275 
Clemenceau,   M.,    Premier,    16,   98, 

103,  105,  257 
Clergy  and  disbelief,  123 
Clothes,  effect  of,  49  et  seq. 
Clubs,  41,  83 

Code,  Napoleonic,  the,  300 
Colonial  Office,  104 
Colonists,  French  as,  187 
Collectivism,  91 

Combes,  Emile,  100,  102,  105,  113 
Comedie  Frangaise,  244,  249 
Companionship,  40 
Concordat,  the,  109,  115 
Concordat  rescinded,  115 
Confederation,  Generale  du  Travail, 

304,  314 
Conscription,  22,  184 

—  in  England,  180 
Conservatism  in  country  districts,  10 

—  towns,  10,  II 

Constant,  Baron  d'Estournelles,  105 
Coronations,  215,  217,  221 
Coulevain,  Pierre  de,  79 
Counsel,  French,  eloquence  of,  289 
"  Crime  passionnel,"  293 
Crispi,  Signor,  policy  of,  183 
Critics,  dramatic,  260 
Cyclist  police,  296 


Dancing  in  Montmartre,  25 
Dan  ton,  15 
Daudet,  Alphonse,  43 
Debits  de  vins,  3 10 


Debussy,  Claude,  70 
Deschanel,  Paul,  175 
Declaration  of  Rights  of  Man,  3 
Delcasse,  M.,    102,    103,    169,    172, 

173,  174,  183 
Democracy  and  parliamentarism,  8 
Deputy,  the,  51 
Deputies,  Chamber  of,  1 1 
Dictator,  7,  8,  10,  186 
Disestablishment,  Church,  159 
Distillers,  private,  Bill,  310 
Divorce,  American,  35 

—  English,  35 

—  French,  35 

Donnay,  Maurice,, 248,  308 

Doumer,  Paul,  104 

D'Oyle,  Conan,  294 

Dreyfus,  Major,  51,  in,  144,  159 

Druids,  214 

Durand,  Mme.  Marguerite,  225 


Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts,  283 
Economy,  French,  307 
Education,  158,  268 

—  literary,  65 

—  for  Women,  77 
Edward  VII,  170,  176 
Egypt  and  Bismarck,  175 
Elections,  parliamentary,  10,  92,  93 
Emancipation  of  Women,  36,  37 
Empress  Eugenie,  15 

—  Josephine,  coronation  of,  222 
Entente  Cordiale,  103,  170,  172,  175, 

176,  178 
Etienne,  M.,  deputy  of  Oran,   104, 

200 
Executions,  secret,  291 


Fallieres,  Armand,  President,  7,  155, 

161,  171,  177 
Family  life,  28,  79 
Fashion,  French,  49,  50 
Fashoda  and  Capt.  Marchand,  175 
Faure,  Felix,  President,  8,  12 
Female  Suffrage,  225 
Feminism,  37,  78,  90,  226,  234 
Fermiers,  Generaux,  3 
Ferry,  Jules,  158,  197,  200 


INDEX 


319 


Festival  of  the  Goddess  of  Reason, 

221 
Flamboyant,  the,  211 
Flers,  M.  de,  dramatic  author,  8 
Flirtation,  48 
Football,  81 
Foreign  Legion,  191 
France,  Anatole,  61 
Franchise,   Municipal,   for  Women, 

230 
Franco-German  relations,  172,  177 
Franco-Italian  relations,  183 
Freemasonry,  134 
Fronde,  the,  2 
—  newspaper,  225 
Frugality,  French,  163 


Gaboriau,  294 

Gailieni,  General,  192 

Gambetta,  in,  169,  187 

Gemier,  Charles,  64 

German  art,  56 

German  relations,  172,  177 

Germany  and  Morocco,  172,  173 

Gothic  architecture,  209 

Guillotine,  290 

Guitry,  M.,  actor,  245 

Guizot,  48 


H 

Hamard,  M.,  294 

Harry,  Myriam,  Mme.,  author,  64 

Haussmann,  Baron,  141 

Headlam,  Cecil,  212 

Henckel  von  Donnersmarck,  173 

Henri  IV,  crowning  of,  215 

Holmes,  Sherlock,  294 

Home  life,  30,  31 

Honesty  in  trade,  45 

Hospitality,  79 

Hospitals,  88 

H6tel-Dieu,  145 

Hunting,  135 

Huysmans,  J.  K.,  213,  217 


Impressionists,  59,  60 
Income  Tax,  161,  164 
Indo-China,  196 


Infallibility,  Papal,  119 
Instruction,  292,  299 
Intellectual  iconoclasts,  47 
Intimidation,  5 
Investments,  30,  31 
Italy,  ambitions  of,  183 

J 

Jacques  Bonhomme,  14 

Japanese,  fears  o^  202 

Jaures,  Jean,  315 

Jeunesse  doree,  308 

Joan  of  Arc,  217,  219 

Josephine,  Empress,    coronation   of, 

222 
Joseph  Prudhomme,  15 
Judicature,  salaries  of,  299  et  seq. 
Judicial  system,  286 
—  essential  differences  in,  302 


Landlords,  absentee,  3 

Land  tenure,  Russian,  9 

Lemaltre,  Jules,  62 

Leo  XIII,  120 

Lepine,  M. ,  Prefect  of  Paris,  304 

Leroux,  Gaston,  294 

Lesueur,  Daniel,  64,  78 

Libel,  law  of,  292  et  seq. 

Licence,  dramatic,  243 

List-voting,  17,  18 

Literary  expression,  65 

Literature,  60,  61,  66 

Loans,  French,  14,  23 

Loisy,  Abbe,  122 

Loubet,  Emile,  President,  7,  176 

Louis  Philippe,  14 

Louis  XIV,  2 

-  XV,  2,  3 

-  XVI,  3 
Lourdes,  120 

Lyautey,  General,  in  Morocco,  191 
Lycees,  270 

-  for  girls,  77 

M 

MacMahon,  Marshal,  6,  1 1 1 

Madagascar,  192,  195 

Madonna,    the  black,    of  Chartres, 

214 
Maeterlinck,  68 


320 


FRANCE   AND   THE   FRENCH 


Magistrates,  English,  301 

Marat,  15,  144 

Marchand,  Captain,  175 

Marriage,  27,  72,  75,  87 

Martinique,  la,  204 

Mathilde,  Princess,  129 

"  Matin,"  newspaper,  256,  257,  258, 

266 
Matisse,  Henry,  259 
May  Day,  304 
Mendes,  Catulle,  259 
Messimy,  M.,  198 
Militarism,  13,  21 
Military  service,  22 
Ministerialism,  ij 
Ministries,  155 
Mir,  the,  9 

Mirbeau,  Octave,  238,  246 
Monarchy,  10,  il,  12,  315 
Monnaie,  la,  146 
Montmartre,  148 
Morality,  political,  51,  52 

—  private,  48 

—  business,  44 

Morocco,  172,  180,  181,  182,  190 
Mun,  Comte  de,  124 
Municipal  Council,  142 

—  reforms,  142 
Music-halls,  34 


N 


Napoleon  I,  14,   16,  109,  146,  178, 

221,  282,  287 
Napoleon  III,  7,  11,  15 
Nationalists,  10,  95,  96 
Nepotism,  315 
Newspapers,  52,  53 
Noblesse,  vieille,  11,  132 
Nordau,  Max,  236 
Notre  Dame  de  Paris,  221 
*'Nouvelles,  les"  (newspaper),  226 
Novel-writers,  61 
—  women,  64 
Nursing,  88 


Occupations  for  women,  88 
Office,  Colonial,  201 
Opium,  199 
Opposition,  91,  95 


Pagan  spirit  in  art,  55 

Palais  Bourbon,  309 

Palais  Royal,  142 

Pantheon,  144 

Paris,  cosmopolitan  character  of,  295 

Parliamentarism,  8,  91 

Parliamentary  pay,  311 

"Partie  civile,"  300 

Parties,  political,  99 

—  Nationahst,  95 

—  Centre,  97 

—  Radical-Socialist,  99 
Pataud,  Emile,  305,  313 
Pelletan,  Camille,  lOi 
Penal  settlements,  203 
Pensions,  old-age,  163 
Penury,  presidential;  12 
Perfide  Albion,  179 
Perier,  Casimir,  President,  7 
Perjury,  301 

Philippe  Egalite,  14 

Pichon,  M.,  23 

Pius  X,  Pope,  115 

Place  des  Vosges,  147 

Play,  the,  61,  63 

Poetry,  66 

Politeness,  30,  306 

Pompadour,  Mme.  de,  ii 

Pope,   the,    and   President   Loubet, 

Population  dwindling,  19 
Portia,  297 

Press,  newspaper,  251,  262 
Pretenders,  48,  49,  62,  86 
Prevost,  Marcel,  229 
Prior,  Edward,  210 
Proportional  Representation,  51 
Provinces,  The  Lost,  178 


Quartier  Latin,  152,  308 


Radical  Socialists,  99 
Reconstitution  of  Crime,  the,  288 
Reform,  parliamentary,  18 
Restaurants,  historic,  150 
Revolution,  The,  2,  3,  9,  15,  28, 147, 
218,  304,  313 


INDEX 


321 


Revolution,  experiments  in,  312 

*•  Revue,  la,"  periodical,  310 

Rheims,  cathedral  of,  217 

Ribot,  M.,  Foreign  Minister,  16,  171 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  2 

"  Robe  Rouge,"  301 

Robert,  Maitre  Henri,  290 

Robespierre,  15 

Rochefort,  Henri,  105,  257 

Romanticism  and  Realism,  62 

Rome,  prix  de,  67 

Rostand,  Edmonds  68,  69,  247 

Rouletabille,  294 

Rouvier,  M.,  Premier,  173 

Royalists,  10,  95,  100 

Russia,  9 

Russian  loans,  170 


S 


Sacred  oil,  215,  217 
Saint  Denis,  royal  tombs  of,  223 
Salaries  of  deputies,  311 
Salon  d'Automne,  57 

—  des  Humoristes,  59 

—  des  Independants,  58 
Salons,  the,  54,  55 
Sappho,  43 

Sargent,  68 
Sarrien,  M.,  103 
Schools,  Beaux-Arts,  283 

—  Centrale,  282 

—  Poly  technique,  281 

—  St.  Cyr,  282 

School-teachers  and  politics,  133 
Scrutin  d'arrondissement,  309  et  seq. , 

31S 
Scrutin  de  liste,  309 
Sedan,  29 
Senate,  97 

Senegalese  as  fighters,  192 
Separation  Act,  117,  157 
Signs,  street,  150 
Socialism  in  France,   20,    21,    185, 

315 

—  Germany,  20,  21,  185 
Socialists,  98,  158 
Society,  Republican,  128 

—  provincial,  132 

—  Parisian,  130  ' 
Sparta,  311 

Sports,  81 

21 


Stage,  the,  238 

Steinheil  trial,  302 

Stock  Exchange  information,  52 

Strike,  Civil  Service,  304 

Strikes,  165,  299 

Suffrage,  female,  231 

Suffragettes,  77,  84 

•*  Sursis,"  298 

Suspiciousness,  30,  31 

**  Syndicats,"  5,  305,  314  et  seq. 


Taine,  66 

Taxation,  162,  306 

*•  Temps,  le,"  newspaper,  260 

Theatre  Libre,  238 

Theatres,  Paris,  244 

Thiers,  6,  15,  156 

Thrift,  French,  29,  163 

Tiers  etat,  313 

Tinayre  Marcelle,  64 

Titles,  132 

Tonkin,  196 

Trade  unions,  5 

Transvaal  War,  175,  180 

Trial  by  newspaper,  292 

Triple  Alliance,  the,  23 

Tripots,  310 

Tsar  Alexander  II,  15,  169 

Tu-Duc,  exploits  of,  196 

Turcos  and  Zouaves,  191,  193 


U 
Unemployment,  29,  166 


Vidocq,  294 

Voltaire,  47,  121 

Votes  for  women,  78,  225 


W 

Wages,  166 

—  women's  39 

Waldeck  -  Rousseau,     Minister,    17, 

113 
Weekly  Rest  Act,  107,  310 
Wells,  H.  G.,  20 


FRANCE    AND   THE   FRENCH 


Witnesses,  false  swearing,  302 
Women  and  children,  effect  of  social 
legislation,  296 

—  and  clericalism,  231 

—  and  the  law,  296 

—  as     Parliamentary    candidates, 
225 


Writers,  feminist,  228 
—  political,  261 


Zola,  47,  62,  69,  144 
Zouaves  and  Turcos,  191,  193 


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